It’s one of those heart-warming stories everyone likes to read about – an item brought in for valuation turns out to be a rare Chinese vase which goes on to sell for over £100,000.
Well, that’s exactly what happened to a retired council worker from Cumbria who took her vase along to a Bonhams' valuation session along with some cutlery and other household items. As she waited at the Stonecross Manor Hotel in Kendal with hundreds of other visitors, the pensioner had no idea where her vase originated from or its value.
The rare 18th century Imperial Famille Rose ‘Chilong’ bottle vase, thought to have been in a Chinese imperial palace, was identified by the valuers as a “remarkable example from the Qianlong period which incorporated Western techniques and traditional Chinese designs”. It was estimated to fetch £50,000-80,000.
“I went quite giddy when the Bonhams' people told me what the vase could be worth,” she said. "All I could think was things like this don’t happen to people like me."
Left to her by her mother, who had inherited it from a friend, the vase has stood for years on top of a cupboard in her living room. “It has survived at least four house moves, and the attentions of my children and grand-children,” she added.
Senior valuer at Bonhams North West, Christopher Jarrey, said: “The owner of this wonderful vase had no idea of its value and was quite bowled over – as indeed were we to find it.”
The 13in (33cm) high vase, decorated in tones of pink, yellow, green, purple and blue, bore the six-character seal mark of the great Emperor Qianlong. It became one of the highlights of Bonhams’ May 12 Fine Chinese Art sale when, after some keen bidding, it sold to a Chinese buyer in the room at £110,500 (including premium).
“This is a fitting end to a fascinating story. We don’t know how the vase came to this country but it seems right that it should be going back home. It just goes to show that there are still wonderful and valuable pieces out there to be discovered,” said a Bonhams’ spokesman today.
