Antique ceramic vase 'sells for 1,000 times more than owner expected'
An owner has unexpectedly received £99,808 for an antique ceramic vase at an Irish auction.
A piece of antique ceramic handed down to an unsuspecting sellerhas sparked a bidding war between two dealers and wound up gettingits owners a lot more than they had bargained for. The vase, which went under the hammer at Sheppards Irish AuctionHouse in Co Laois, received an opening offer of £45 but eventuallysold for £99,808 - more than 1,000 times higher than the family hadexpected to receive.
They had originally gained the piece from two sisters who hademigrated to the US and collected ceramics, although they wereunaware of its value - something which could have been addressed byan online appraisal.
International collectors attending the auction spotted the pieceand realised it had formed part of the 18th century personalcollection of Chinese emperor Qianlong. Earlier this month, leading auction house Sotheby's sold acollection including a number of Chinese and imperial antiqueceramics..