FOR auctioneers, ‘sleepers’ are a mixed blessing. As George Archdale, specialist at Cheffins in Cambridge, says: “It can cause embarrassment, but I would much rather a broken pot make its money with us than at someone else’s sale.”
Archdale was recalling the sale of a damaged blue and white jar with a Yongzheng mark for an unexpected £36,000 in March.
The under-valuing of Chinese objects is not uncommon as debates over date are frequent. However, in this case Archdale now believes the jar, which came from a Chinese owner, was of the period.
