LONDON – A CRACKED vase discovered in an elderly couple’s spare bedroom fetched £750,000 at auction yesterday after experts found it was an 18th-century Chinese masterpiece.
The owners, said to be of “modest” means, were unaware that the object sitting in their home was made in 1740 for the Emperor Qianlong.
The value of the piece was discovered only when the couple asked for a routine valuation at their home in Purbeck, Dorset.
The “lantern” vase sold at Duke’s auctioneers in Dorchester to a telephone bidder who wishes to remain anonymous.
The vase is believed to be the work Tang Ying, rated as one of the era’s greatest craftsmen.
An export licence may be needed by anyone wanting to take the vase out of the country, such is its importance. – (PA)