The £3m Chinese vase that survived football and the family cat
An antique Chinese vase that was valued at £20,000 after being found in a routine family house clearance has fetched £3 million – more than 100 times its asking price.
The Chinese Vase Photo: ROSS PARRY
By Richard Alleyne
7:17PM GMT 16 Nov 2012
The bottle vase from the Qing dynasty was discovered by chance when a local auctioneer went around to value the contents of the house in the Yorkshire Dales. At first he thought it was a 19th century replica but as the sale got closer he realised it hailed from the reign of Emperor Yongzheng who ruled China from 1722 to 1735.
The news caused a buying frenzy especially among Asian buyers with one Chinese couple taking a taxi all the way from London to the market town of Leyburn for the auction. By the time the sale took place the 300-year-old family heirloom fetched £3m with commissions.
The antique was discovered by Rodney Tennant, from Tennants Auctioneers, during a routine house call to value the contents of a modest family home. Mr Tennant said the owner, who wished to remain anonymous, had decided to sell his furniture after the death of his wife and had no idea of its value.
“It had been in the house for 45 years,” he said. “He said it was a wonder it had never been damaged by cats and dogs running around and kids playing football in the room – they said it was the only item in the house not to be damaged.”
The seller told Mr Tennant he had planned to ring his children to tell them how much it made, but would now visit them in person as they wouldn’t believe it. After the auction “I don’t know what to say”. Mr Tennant studied Oriental porcelain in London 40 years ago and realised immediately the vase was valuable.
“If it had been a rare clock I probably wouldn’t have looked twice,” the auctioneer admitted. It was initially thought the vase was a replica made in the 19th century. However, after studying the piece in detail this week, experts from around the world agreed it was made during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng who ruled China from 1722 to 1735.
Mr Tennant said: “There has been a lot of interest in it. I was on tenterhooks worried someone would come along and say it is not genuine, but everyone agreed it was the real thing. “It’s been Asian Art Week in London and people have cancelled their return trip to come up to Leyburn.
“We had one couple get a taxi here from London – I think they thought it was just up the road. “The vase is the right mark, the right period and it’s immaculate – one crack and you could have knocked off £1m from the sale price.” Wenguang Lu, from Cixi City, in China, got up at 3.30am on Friday to drive from London to Leyburn with several friends.
He said: “We drove for four hours to get here because it’s a very important item.” The vase was eventually sold to a Chinese telephone bidder based in Hong Kong. The sale prompted a round of applause in the auction room. Mr Tennant said: “It's not Ming but it's still rare to find something like this worth so much in rural North Yorkshire.
“I found it on my routine house visits. I called and there it was – I said 'oh that's interesting'.” The catalogue said: “A Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Bottle Vase, bearing six character mark of Yongzheng, but probably Daoguang, painted in ‘heap and pile’ technique with two five-clawed dragons writhing amongst scrolling peony blossoms, a narrow crashing wave band to the rim, the foot with eight quatrelobed florets, 39.2cm high.
The "heap and pile" effect is characteristic of the earlier Ming Dynasty period pieces. It is achieved by hand-painted "dots" which result in a higher concentration of cobalt pigment. This vase clearly shows these almost "black" spots, particularly noticeable on the edges of the flowers and leaves. The vase exhibits an extraordinary control of the cobalt blue which is a number of Oriental art pieces went for far more than their estimate at the sale.
A Chinese pale jade plaque from the 18th or 19th century valued at between £5,000 and £7,000 went for £110,000, while a Chinese carved jade bowl went for £50,000. It was also estimated at £5,000 to £7,000.
A spokesman for Tennants, Max Sobolevski, said: "Having spent over 40 years in one house the vase had survived being knocked over by the family cat and had even escaped all damage when the children played football around it."
