The owner of a Chinese vase initially estimated at a maximum of 2,000 euros saw its price soar at auction to more than 9 million euros, the Osenat auction house announced on Saturday October 1. The sale took place in Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne) and the vase was part of a collection of furniture and various works of art.
The saleswoman, who lives in a French overseas territory“is a lady who inherited the vase from her mother, who herself inherited it from her mother, a great Parisian collector in the last century”, explained the director of Osenat art objects, Cédric Laborde. The object was part of the possessions left by the seller’s mother when she died, in her apartment in Saint-Briac-sur-Mer, on the Brittany coast.
⭐️ Awarded 7.7 Million Euros under the hammer of Master Osenat this afternoon in Fontainebleau, a large TIANQIUPING vase in porcelain and polychrome enamels#China #auction #auction pic.twitter.com/fN9U8wmPrQ
— Osenat (@OsenatSVV) October 1, 2022
The saleswoman “was far away, she didn’t even see the vase, she had it transported to Paris. It’s a crazy story”, said auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat. This Tianqiuping vase, blue and white, in porcelain and polychrome enamels, with drawings of dragons and clouds, is 54 cm high and 40 cm in diameter.
Estimated by experts at between 1,500 and 2,000 euros, the vase was won thanks to an auction of 7.7 million euros, i.e. a price – including costs – of 9.121 million euros. The whole question is to know when it dates from. If it’s 20th century as the experts have concluded, the object is relatively unremarkable. If it’s from the 18th century, that makes it an extremely rare piece, justifying the purchase price.
From the moment we made the catalog public, we saw that there was a lot of movement: the Chinese came to see the vase, more and more of them. The expert said he continued to think he was not ancient.
Cédric Laborde, director of works of art at Osenat
The buyer is Chinese. “I think this vase is not meant to be hidden from view, but displayed in a museum”depending on the framework of the auction house.