‘Regular’ Chinese vase sells for €8m after bid battle
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An “ordinary” Chinese vase auctioned in France and valued at 2,000 euros sold for almost 8 million euros after a fierce bidding war among buyers convinced it was a rare 18th-century artifact.
At the auction in Fontainebleau near Paris, auctioneers were amazed that bids from about 30 bidders, mostly Chinese, continued to come in. When the hammer fell, the vase was sold for 7.7 million euros, nearly 4,000 times its estimated value. Including seller’s commissions, the final purchase price was 9.12 million euros.
The tianqiuping style porcelain was auctioned off by a woman living in the overseas territory of France, who left it for her late mother. The unnamed seller did not see the 54 cm tall vase, but arranged for it to be shipped from her mother’s home in Brittany to Paris to be sold at the Osenat auction.
She told the auction house expert that the vase originally belonged to her grandmother, a Parisian collector.
Almost 30 potential buyers competed in the bidding war.
Jean-Pierre Ocena of the auctioneers said it was “a crazy story”. “The seller lives far away and has not even seen the vase. She inherited it from her mother, who in turn inherited it from her mother, who was a major Parisian collector in the last century,” said Osenat.
Tianqiuping means “celestial sphere” and refers to the shape of the vase, which was blue and white porcelain, enameled and decorated with dragons and clouds. The auction house said it dates from the 20th century and called it “pretty ordinary”. According to their expert, if it were 200 years older, it would be an extremely rare specimen.
Cédric Laborde, director of Osenat, said: “Since the publication of the catalog, we have seen a huge interest: more and more Chinese people came to look at the vase. Our expert still believes that this is not an ancient artifact.
“The Chinese are passionate about their history and take pride in owning their history,” Laborde added. He said the buyer was Chinese and he believed the vase would be put on public display.
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