A very rare 18th-century Chinese vase, which was kept in a kitchen, has been sold at auction for a colossal sum of almost £1.5 million. The vase was previously purchased for a few hundred pounds by a surgeon back in the 1980s.

Created for the court of the Qianlong Emperor in the 1700s, the blue-glazed, silver and gilt vase is 60cm tall and decorated with bats and cranes. The vase was sold by the family of the late surgeon, who bought the precious item because he liked the way it looked. It sat in the kitchen for decades in the family’s home in the Midlands. The piece was spotted back in the 1990s by Mark Newstead, an antiques expert, who was there for a social visit. Some years later, Newstead identified the seal mark on the base of the vase; he suggested it had likely been displayed in the mid-18th century in the halls of the Qing palace.

Dreweatts Auctioneers estimated the case to be worth somewhere between £100,000 - £150,000. However, when it went under the hammer, it dramatically exceeded this pre-sale calculation fetching £1.2 million with the buyer’s premium bringing the total cost to near £1.5 million. The vase went to an international buyer who placed the winning bid over the phone.

Newstead, the specialist consultant in Asian Ceramic Art at the auction house where the piece was sold, stated “We are delighted with the result. It shows the demand for the finest porcelain produced in the world.”

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