Sitting In The Kitchen, This Rare Chinese Vase From The Age Of The Qianlong Emperor Of The 18th Century Sold IDR 27 Billion

Chinese vase from the Qing Dynasty. (Dreweatts 1759 YouTube screenshot)

JAKARTA - As one of the world's cultural centers since centuries ago, China has various relics of rare and high-value works of art, relics of the eras of various Royal Dynasties.

A British surgeon who bought a very rare 18th-century Chinese vase for several hundred pounds in the 1980s, managed to sell it at auction for nearly 1.5 million pounds.

The 60cm vase, made for the palace of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty in the 1700s, is blue with silver and gold plating, decorated with cranes and bats.

The original owner gave the vase to his son who placed it in his kitchen, where a visiting antiques specialist saw it and realized its true value.

Drewatts Auctioneers in Berkshire estimates it's worth between £100,000 and £150,000. But on Wednesday, the vase sold for around 1.2 million pounds, with buyers' premiums bringing its total price closer to 1.5 million pounds.

A lucky international buyer managed to win the auction, after his existing telephone bid beat.

"We are delighted with this extraordinary result," said Mark Newstead of Drewatts, reported The National News May 19.

"We saw broad interest from China, America and the UK, which resulted in a very competitive offer," he said.

The vase is described as 'a testament to the creativity' of artisans working during the Qianlong period, who used the 'enameling technique' to cater to the emperor's tastes in exotic styles.

This would require at least three kilns for different colours, including over 1,200℃ for cobalt blue.

"Rich cobalt blue is often referred to as 'sacrifice blue', derived from the use of vessels in this color glaze, which was used during sacrifices at the Imperial Altar of Heaven," the auction house said.

"It's rare to see a blue vase painted in gold and silver which is slightly raised, presumably because the medium is difficult to control."

"Amazingly, no other porcelain adorned with the same subject in gold and silver has ever been documented."

It also bears the distinctive six-character mark of the Qianlong period between 1736 and 1795 on its base.