Siblings stunned as Chinese vase sells for €51m
The 18th-century piece of Qianlong-era porcelain was expected to fetch between £800,000 (€94,200) and £1.2m (€1.4m) when it went under the hammer on Thursday evening.
But the total price, including commission and VAT on the commission, was £53,105,000 after bids in the packed auction room went sky high.
Believed to have been acquired by an English family during the 1930s or earlier, auctioneer Bainbridges said how it reached north-west London would never be known.
The owners, who had inherited it, had little idea of the fortune it would make them when they found it in the Pinner property.
The vase is understood to have been carried off by a private buyer from China for what is believed to be the highest sum for any Chinese artwork sold at auction.
The eye-watering price it fetched shocked both the auctioneer and the owners.
Helen Porter of Bainbridges said: “They had no idea what they had. They were hopeful but they didn’t dare believe until the hammer went down.
“When it did, the sister had to go out of the room and have a breath of fresh air.”
The auction in Ruislip, north west London, attracted many Chinese bidders keen to get their hands on a piece of their imperial past.
Bainbridges described the 16in-high piece as one of the most important Chinese vases to go on sale this century. The auctioneer’s blog said: “It is a masterpiece. If only it could talk!”
The vase, decorated with a fish motif, was described as “a piece of exquisite beauty and a supreme example of the skill of the ceramicist and decorator”.
The item has a yellow painted trumpet neck and a double-walled construction, meaning an inner vase can be seen through the perforations of the main body.
Qianlong was the fourth emperor in the Qing dynasty and one of the longest-serving in Chinese history, reigning from 1735 to 1796.
The Chinese ceramics industry in the 18th century was known for the perfection of its porcelain.
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