Earlier this week, a Chinese vase was discovered in an old shoe box. It was stuffed in an attic in an old house in France. The vase was found by chance among several other pieces of Chinoserie. It was identified to be a very rare porcelain vase from China. No one could have predicted that the vase would be worth a little more than half a million dollars.
When the vase was examined, it was identified as a porcelain vase made for the 18th century Qing dynasty Emperor Qianlong. The price guide for the vase on auction later on this week starts at a price of 500,000 Euros ($590,000). The owner of the vase got in touch with Sotheby’s to appraise the item, but he didn’t expect to fetch such as price. “We didn’t like the vase too much, and my grandparents didn’t like it either,” said the owner of the piece.
“Porcelains with such elaborate and challenging designs are exceedingly rare on Qing imperial porcelain and is decorated with an idyllic landscape with deer and cranes,” Sotheby’s said in its auction website. It is also said to be in almost perfect condition. That is among the many reasons why it fetches such a high price on auction.
“This vase is the only known example in the world bearing such detail,” said Olivier Valmier, the Asian arts expert at Sotheby’s, “This is a major work of art.” The only other vase of this rarity that has ever been discovered is in the Guimet museum of Asiatic arts in Paris.