Its been happening so frequently that these headlines are almost starting to become old news. Still, it does make you want to go poking around in your grandmothers attic…
Neglected Family Vase Sets 66 million Record for Chinese Art at Auction
Apparently the 18th-century Qianlong-era porcelain vase was discovered while cleaning out a modest London suburb home. Other then knowing it was acquired in the 193o’s, the anonymous family who owned it knows little else as to its origins. According to the auctioneer Bainbridges, the vase itself dates from the Qianlong period (1740’s) and would have most definitely been fired in the imperial kilns before finally residing in the Chinese Royal Palace. According to the Antiques Trade Gazette, Bainbridges is a small suburban auction house which normally deals with cheaper antiques, equipment and lawnmowers. Not bad, considering they stand to reap a 13.8 million dollar buyers premium from the sale. Purchased by a Chinese bidder on behalf of an undisclosed buyer, the sale price was not only more than 40 times the pre-sale estimate, but it set a new record for a Chinese work of art. But wait – it gets better. “About 30 years ago it was shown on a television show called Going For A Song where an expert appraised it at $1300 as a “very good copy.” Poor guy – I definitely would not want to be him right about now.
Regardless of whatever price was paid, the real or fake, the vase really is absolutely stunning. Beautiful!
The downside? A tax bill totalling a few million.
5 Responses
If you watch the auction footage. Someone standing beside the vase picks it up after the gavel was banged. All I could think to myself at that moment is, what if he had dropped it? *shudder*
Wow! It’s a really pretty vase. Not sure it’s worth $69 million, though! I actually think my dad has one that is similar.
$69 million, nice price, but… I’m sure anything on the world is worth as much as some one wants to pay for.
It’s amazing to think that a seemingly ordinary vase sitting quietly in a suburban London home turned out to be a priceless imperial treasure from the Qianlong era. The fact that Bainbridges—an auction house more known for lawnmowers and modest antiques—ended up handling a piece that fetched nearly $14 million after buyer’s premium is just wild!