Unremarkable Chinese Porcelain Vase Sold for €9 Million

Experts at the auction house appraised the vase at merely €2,000; nevertheless, bidders held a differing opinion.

A seemingly simple Chinese vase, valued at €2,000, was sold for over €9 million (including of all associated expenses) at an auction in France. A bidding frenzy erupted, with eager bidders believing the vase was a rare 18th-century item, driving its price to nearly 4,000 times its estimated value.

The French auction firm Osenat announced that its experts verified the vase's authenticity and determined it originated from the 20th century. Had the vase been 200 years older, its worth would have been considerably more, hence appraised at €2,000.

Image: Instagram _osenat

The tianqiuping-style porcelain vase showcases a blue and white motif of dragons and clouds. Osenat’s website characterizes it as a “porcelain and polychrome enamel vase in the blue-white style, featuring a globular body and elongated cylindrical neck, adorned with nine ferocious dragons and clouds.” Moreover, the vendor of this artifact had not even observed the 54cm-tall vase and presently resides in a French Overseas Territory. The vase was an item from her mother's inheritance that she inherited. She requested the auctioneer to sell it as part of a consignment of things retrieved from her mother's residence in Brittany.

The vase was once owned by her grandmother, a Parisian collector, who bequeathed it to the seller’s mother upon her death.

CNN reports that over 300-400 individuals expressed interest in bidding; however, Osenat restricted the number of bidders to just 30, who were required to pay a deposit to partake. Fifteen bidders participated via telephone, while an additional fifteen bids were present on-site. Cédric Labord, a director at Osenat, stated, “Upon the publication of the catalogue, we observed significant interest, with an increasing number of Chinese individuals visiting to view the vase.” “Our expert maintains that it is not antiquated.”

The porcelain vase was ultimately acquired by an unidentified Chinese purchaser. Notwithstanding its ordinary appearance, the vase garnered popularity among Chinese bidders, who are renowned for their fervor over history and their pleasure in owning a fragment of it. Labord contends that the vase will be exhibited.

The stratospheric price of the vase surpassed the previous record of €4.2 million set in 2007 for a sabre utilized by Napoleon at the Battle of Marengo in 1800.