AN elaborately decorated Chinese vase found during a house clear-out sold for a record £51MILLION yesterday.
The 16in-high piece of pottery, which dates back to the 1700s, had sat in a family's home since the 1930s.
The hammer price was £43million after Chinese bidders battled for it. With fees added, the winning bidder will pay £51.6million - the highest price ever paid for a Chinese ceramic at auction.
The vase - owned by a brother and sister who had inherited it - was found at a semi-detached house in Pinner, North West London.
It was identified as having been made in the Imperial kilns during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.
Auction valuer Luan Gorchorski said: "It came from an ordinary home, nicely furnished with a few antiques. This vase sat on top of a bookcase."
Helen Porter of Bainbridges said of the brother and sister: "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."
Experts had estimated the lot would fetch between £800,000 and £1.2million.
But a bidding war broke out between four people in the room and three on the phone.
The winner - who was in the room - refused to comment after the sale, but was said to be a Beijing-based agent.
Collector Wes Jefferson, who witnessed the auction, said: "They started bidding at £800,000, but no one placed a bid, so they reduced it to £500,000.
"Then telephone bids started coming in and it slowly moved up to £4million.
"From there, it quickly shot up to £20million.
"Then the bids were going up in £2million intervals, and after just 20 minutes it had reached £43million.
"A huge cheer went up in the room. Everyone was stunned."
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan