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NEWS
THE PHOTOJOURNALIST
Hong Kong Stem Cup Auction In May 2016, a small stem cup, belonging to the Thornhill collection of Staffordshire University and Stokeon-Trent, was sent nearly 6,000 miles to Hong Kong to be auctioned. A stem cup, belonging to Staffordshire University and Stoke-on-Trent was sold for £3 million at the Stem Cup Auction. A little stem cup from Thornhill collection belonging to Staffordshire university and Stoke-on-Trent was sent nearly six thousand miles to Hong Kong to be auctioned. The stem cup was donated to the university by Ernest Thornhill during the Second World War. In 1980’s Professor Flavia Swann found the long forgotten stem cup and other 250 items from the collection. Experts estimated the stem cup to have a value upwards of £2million. The plan was drawn up to sell the item and rise sufficient funds to display the rest of the Thornhill collection in Stokeon-Trent. Two Staffordshire University students, Laura Forrest-Sufrin, film student and Richard Holmes, photojournalism student, flew to the Hong Kong to document the auction.The auction was hosted at the Liang Yi museum, Hong Kong.
Over one hundred lots were auctioned and sold by Lyon & Turnbull and Freeman’s Auctioneers. The Auction began at 6pm May 31, with the auction room gradually filling up as the auction went on ahead of featured lot No 84- the stem cup. The bidding opened and after a slow start, the bidding picked up and the pace increased as well as the price, soon reaching 3.5 million HKD. Final bidder raised his hand and took the price up to 36 million HKD which is equivalent of over £3 million. The stem cup was bought by a mysterious bidder, representing an anonymous buyer in Asia. The stem cup provided students an amazing opportunity to visit an amazing city, as well as seeing history being made as over £3 million was raised to help the display of the Ernest Thornhill’s beloved collection. Thornhill collection is now set for display in Stoke-on-Trent in the home of the pottery industry.