Yearender: Priciest art items sold in 2015

A Large Imperial Portrait of Consort Chunhui by Giuseppe Castiglione. [Photo/Sotheby's]

5. A Large Imperial Portrait of Consort Chunhui from the Qing Dynasty, $17.7 million, Oct 7

A Large Imperial Portrait of Consort Chunhui from the Qing Dynasty's Qianlong Period, was sold for $HK 137.4 million ($17.7 million) in October this year, the highest auction record for a Chinese imperial tailoring portrait.

The portrait, painted by Italian painter Giuseppe Castiglione and others, was auctioned at a Sotheby's autumn sale in Hong Kong.

As a rarely seen, large-size portrait by Castiglione, it is also the only known portrait of Consort Chunhui in a court robe. It has title calligraphy by Emperor Qianlong, which may have been written after Chunhui's death as a way for him to pay tribute to the deceased imperial concubine.