Pick of the week

At Sotheby's, Nigel McKinley, my colleague from , nominated the item that he would most) carved with a reticulation of -hornless, or baby, dragons-in dense lotus foliage. Before entering the Ezekiel Collection, it had belonged to Amber Blanco White, a feminist and political writer, who was mother to one of H.G. Wells's children. Here, the price, £37,800, was three times above the estimate. However, that discrepancy was as nothing compared with the result for a second jade disc () of very similar size and date, which was estimated to £20,000 and sold for £252,000. This was beautifully carved with a simpler design of three and a phoenix with a larger dragon emerging through the central hole from the underside. I would be fascinated to know what governed these prices.