Red-Coat
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Edited from the UK Daily Express newspaper:
A vase, which was rejected by a BBC antiques expert, has sold for a staggering £53million after collecting dust in an attic for 40 years. Back in the 1970s, the corporation launched an antiques game show titled ‘Going for a Song’, which was the forerunner of the ‘Antiques Roadshow’. It was here that one British couple brought their antique vase onto the show to be appraised by experts. However, the hopeful owners left disappointed after the curator in charge deemed the 16-inch-tall porcelain ornament a "very clever reproduction" of the real thing.
The ornate Chinese vase was a family heirloom that they kept hidden away in the dusty attic for 40 years. When the couple passed away, their relatives finally discovered the vase's true value while cleaning out their house. The vase was found "sitting on the bookcase doing absolutely nothing" when Bainbridge's Auction House manager, David Reay, spotted it and instantly knew it was something special. He recalled back in 2010: "They told me it had been valued at just £800 two months earlier. They also told me the owner had taken it on ‘Going for a Song’ on the BBC about 40 years ago. He was told it was a very clever reproduction."
To gain clarity, the vase was sent to the Arts Club of London, where specialists examined it. There, they discovered the vase was made around 1740, for the fifth emperor of the Qing dynasty in China. It had been passed down through the family by a relative who travelled abroad. It had likely been looted from a Peking imperial palace by British and French soldiers during the Second Opium War. After the war ended, British troops were permitted to loot Emperor Xianfeng's Summer Palace of Gold before setting fire to it. Upon reflection, the vase was valued again at £1million when it was put up for auction.
It didn't take long before phones were ringing off the hook from bidders desperate to get their hands on the prized antique. The vase eventually sold for £43million, with commission and VAT, the total price was an eye-watering £53,105,000. Auctioneer Peter Bainbridge said at the time: "There was a silence that wrapped itself around the sale as the figure grew slowly but surely up to the sky. I'm an auctioneer, so at that point, I'm just doing the professional job I'm paid to do. But once the hammer's down, you do take stock slightly, and think, 'Oh, wow, that's really rather a lot of money'." The owners were so shocked they had to run out of the room to compose themselves, while Peter took home approximately £10million as commission for the sale.
A vase, which was rejected by a BBC antiques expert, has sold for a staggering £53million after collecting dust in an attic for 40 years. Back in the 1970s, the corporation launched an antiques game show titled ‘Going for a Song’, which was the forerunner of the ‘Antiques Roadshow’. It was here that one British couple brought their antique vase onto the show to be appraised by experts. However, the hopeful owners left disappointed after the curator in charge deemed the 16-inch-tall porcelain ornament a "very clever reproduction" of the real thing.
The ornate Chinese vase was a family heirloom that they kept hidden away in the dusty attic for 40 years. When the couple passed away, their relatives finally discovered the vase's true value while cleaning out their house. The vase was found "sitting on the bookcase doing absolutely nothing" when Bainbridge's Auction House manager, David Reay, spotted it and instantly knew it was something special. He recalled back in 2010: "They told me it had been valued at just £800 two months earlier. They also told me the owner had taken it on ‘Going for a Song’ on the BBC about 40 years ago. He was told it was a very clever reproduction."
To gain clarity, the vase was sent to the Arts Club of London, where specialists examined it. There, they discovered the vase was made around 1740, for the fifth emperor of the Qing dynasty in China. It had been passed down through the family by a relative who travelled abroad. It had likely been looted from a Peking imperial palace by British and French soldiers during the Second Opium War. After the war ended, British troops were permitted to loot Emperor Xianfeng's Summer Palace of Gold before setting fire to it. Upon reflection, the vase was valued again at £1million when it was put up for auction.
It didn't take long before phones were ringing off the hook from bidders desperate to get their hands on the prized antique. The vase eventually sold for £43million, with commission and VAT, the total price was an eye-watering £53,105,000. Auctioneer Peter Bainbridge said at the time: "There was a silence that wrapped itself around the sale as the figure grew slowly but surely up to the sky. I'm an auctioneer, so at that point, I'm just doing the professional job I'm paid to do. But once the hammer's down, you do take stock slightly, and think, 'Oh, wow, that's really rather a lot of money'." The owners were so shocked they had to run out of the room to compose themselves, while Peter took home approximately £10million as commission for the sale.
