Chinese Vase Brings $69 million at Auction
The next time you see a dusty old relic in your attic that you think is junk, don't throw it away. It may be worth millions of dollars. We hear this type of story every day but nothing quite so extraordinary as the case of a brother and sister from England who were cleaning out their parents attic. There they spotted a dusty old Chinese vase that had previously been dismissed as a reproduction. Nevertheless, they took it to an auction house to see if they could get some money for it.
As it turns out, this was a rare and very old Chinese vase with an illustrious history. After feverish bidding, the vase brought in a closing successful bid of $69.5 million dollars. Wow!
The blue and yellow vase is believed to have been made around 1740 and dates back to the royal court of Qianlong, the fifth emperor in the Qing dynasty.
It's unclear how the vase -- decorated with a fish motif -- ended up in suburban London, but experts think it was taken out of China probably around the end of the Second Opium War in 1860.
After 30 minutes, the sale finally went to an unidentified Chinese man seated in the front row on a gilded sofa who refused to divulge his identity.
Comments