Chinese Vase Sells For 100 Times Appraised Value
A small Chinese vase that was valued at £10,000 to £15,000 has today sold at auction - for almost £1 million.
The extremely rare 18th Century ornament, made for a Chinese emperor, was brought to Britain by the seller’s family more than a century ago.
Yongzheng Imperial Blue and White vase
Despite it standing just 20cm (eight inches) high, an anonymous telephone buyer from China paid around 100 times its estimated value when it went under the hammer at Tennants’ auction rooms in Leyburn, North Yorkshire today.
Tennants’ associate director, Nigel Smith said the blue and white bottle vase, made for the Qianlong Emperor around 1730, was put up for sale by an academic who lives in Oxford.
He said its auction room success was down to its rarity and exclusivity as very few were ever produced.
Mr Smith added: 'It really is a museum-quality piece and these things very rarely come on the market.
It’s come down through the family - one of their relatives was a diplomat in China in the 1880s and was given it as a gift.'
He said the unnamed owner had contacted auctioneers after learning that a similar item had sold for £2.6 million last year.
Mr Smith said he was shocked at the £950,000 it made during today’s Spring Fine Art Sale, adding: 'Despite the low valuation, we expected it to fetch in excess of half a million but we were very pleased with the result. I haven’t spoken to the vendor but I expect he’s rather happy too.'
The seller’s grandmother, Lady Ethel Margaret Stronge, left the vase to his mother Mrs Rose Ethel Richardson of Tynan Abbey, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, who gave it to her son.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294096/Small-Chinese-vase-passed-family-heirloom-100-years-valued-just-10-000-sells-auction-1MILLION.html#ixzz2OmNHdEP9
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Leave a Reply