Chinese Vase Breaks $80 million
There were 2 things that broke on Thursday in a small auction house in West London.
The 1st was the Peter Bainbridge’s hammer as he ended the auction that broke the record for a Chinese Vase. It reached $69.5 million and with costs and tax added it broke the $85 million mark.
The story is reminiscent of the TV series ‘Only Fools and Horses” where a watch that had been lying in a garage unloved and unrecognised later made the characters millions when sold at auction.
The anonymous sellers had held the Chinese vase in their family since the 1930′s but never really thought that it was anything special. It turns out to be a vase from the Qing dynasty when the industry was at its peak and bears the imperial seal of Emperor Qianlong. Experts say that it is an exceptional piece.
It is not known how the vase came to be in Britain but alot of pieces turned up in the UK after the Opium Wars in the 1800′s. The latest buying power of the Chinese new rich has meant that there has been a frenzy of buying back their history taking prices ever higher.
Comments