“The man destroyed the large blue and white Porcelain Cube at a busy private opening for the exhibition “Who am I?” at Palazzo Fava in Bologna on the evening of September 21. Local police arrested a 57-year-old Czech man who has been identified in Italian media as Vaclav Pisvejc, a provocateur and self-proclaimed artist known for targeting important works of art.”
I’ve seen the urn characterized both as rare/expensive and not uncommon/inexpensive. It seems to change depending on the point different articles are trying to make. Perhaps it’s relative.
Depending on the source, I’ve seen a dime a dozen, a couple thousand dollars (not exactly cheap in my books) or a million (which seemed to be about another work of Weiwei’s). I also saw a history site talking about Han pottery being a “minor work” with burial pieces mimicking bronze works from the time. I can’t say just what this was worth before he broke it, and the art world probably inflates its value now that it’s destroyed.