China Guardian Hong Kong Autumn Auction: Vietnamese Shengjie Qinan Agarwood Mountain Sells for HK$15.477 Million

A five-catty qinan "mountain" at HK$15.477 million

At China Guardian Hong Kong's 2026 autumn sale, the "Guanhua" session of classical furniture and scholar's objects offered a piece catalogued as a Vietnamese shengjie (live-formed) qinan agarwood mountain. It weighed approximately 2,500 grams and measured 14 × 11 × 37 cm, against an estimate of HK$15–18 million. The final price of HK$15,477,000 (buyer's premium included) works out at roughly HK$6,200 per gram.

The result sat in the lower part of the estimate range rather than the upper, with no dramatic premium. China Guardian and Artron described the outcome in similar terms: the price fell within estimate, reflecting a market that has grown more rational in its bidding for top-grade aromatic material. Across the session, 130 lots were offered, with a 72% sell-through rate and a total of HK$37.86 million.

Provenance and what makes qinan valuable

The catalogue records two names in the provenance line: Shoyeido of Japan and the Hong Kong collector Fung Yiu-fai of the Liang Yi Collection. Shoyeido was founded in 1705 (the second year of the Hoei era) and is among Japan's long-established incense houses, long serving as a reference point for grading aromatic material within the kōdō tradition. Fung began collecting in the early 1990s, with a marked preference for Vietnamese material.

Qinan is not a separate tree species but an unusual variant of resin formation within agarwood; the trade saying is that only one in ten agarwood trees will ever yield it. Where ordinary agarwood is sold by the gram on resin content alone, value at the qinan tier is composite — aroma, form and volume together — and a large uncut piece retaining its natural silhouette sits closer to a scholar's-desk object than to a raw material. A compliance note: all Aquilaria species are listed in China's catalogue of key protected wild plants, with Aquilaria sinensis at national second-class protection, and all Aquilaria species are on CITES Appendix II; proof of legal origin is mandatory for sale, transport and import/export.

This article is industry observation and general information, not trading or investment advice. Please buy agarwood only through legal channels and look for traceable, testable sources.