A Chinese tianqiuping vase (celestial sphere vase) has just shocked the auction house world by selling close to 4,000 times its estimated high. The traditional blue-white vase was expected to reach a high of $2,000 USD but ended up seeing a hammer price of $7.6 million USD — $9 million after fees.
A bidding war composed of 30 individuals, made up of mostly Chinese buyers, lit up the Fontainebleau-based auction house’s telephone lines on October 1 for the 54cm vase. A specialist from the auction house elaborated that the vase was a “quite ordinary” 20th-century vase and not the 18th-century relic that many believe it to be.
The original owner came in possession of the vase via her grandmother who was a collector in Paris. Cedric Labord, a director of Osenat commented, “From the moment the catalog was published we saw there was enormous interest, with more and more Chinese people coming to see the vase.” The auction house also mentions that if the vase had been 200 years older, its value would have reflected that. Hopefully, the new owner of the tianqiuping vase is able to tell the world what they knew that the auction house didn’t.
In other auction news, the legendary Cartier Cheich sells for $1.1 million USD.
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