A small yellow vase bought for just £1 at a charity shop in Hertfordshire turned out to be an imperial Chinese piece made for the Qianlong Emperor, eventually selling for £484,000 at auction.
asserted
vase → buy → auction
The unnamed shopper had no idea of the vase's importance when he spotted it in the charity shop.
asserted
he → have → shop
According to Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers, he simply bought it because he liked the look of it.
uncertain
he → accord → it
Thinking it might be worth something, he later listed the vase on eBay with a low starting price.
uncertain
he → think → price
The response quickly suggested that his £1 purchase was far from ordinary.
uncertain
purchase → suggest → ?
Messages and bids began pouring in, prompting the owner to remove the vase from eBay and seek professional advice.
asserted
Messages → pour → advice
He took it to specialists at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, who examined the piece and identified it as Chinese imperial porcelain.
asserted
who → take → porcelain
The discovery eventually led to a remarkable auction result.
asserted
discovery → lead → result
In November 2019, a Chinese buyer secured the vase with a hammer bid of £380,000.
asserted
buyer → secure → 380,000
After additional fees were included, the total price paid reached £484,000-484,000 times what the shopper had originally paid for it.
asserted
shopper → include → it
Made for the Qianlong Emperor
The vase was identified as an imperial Qianlong famille rose piece made for the Qianlong Emperor, the sixth emperor of China's Qing dynasty.
asserted
vase → make → dynasty
Sworders said the emperor reigned from 1735 to 1796.
asserted
emperor → say → 1796
Several features helped specialists establish the vase's significance.
asserted
specialists → help → significance
It carries markings indicating that it was not intended for export from China, but was instead made for one of the emperor's palaces.
asserted
it → carry → palaces
The vase also carries an imperial poem that "praises incense" as well as two iron-red seal marks reading "Qianlong chen han", meaning "the Qianlong Emperor's own mark".
asserted
that → carry → mark
Another inscription reads "Weijing weiyi", which translates as "be precise, be undivided".
asserted
which → read → weiyi
Yexue Li, head of the Asian art department at Sworders, said the imperial inscription was one of the features that made the object particularly important.
asserted
object → say → features
"The vase is special because it comes with the inscription by the Qianlong Emperor, and he must have commissioned this vase," Li said.
asserted
Li → come → vase
The vase carries an imperial poem and two seal marks reading "Qianlong chen han".
asserted
vase → carry → han
Importance of the yellow colour
The vase stands about eight inches tall and has a pear-shaped design.
asserted
vase → stand → design
Unlike a conventional vase meant to be viewed from every direction, it has a flat back because it was designed to be attached to a wall.
asserted
it → mean → wall
Its front is decorated with floral patterns.
asserted
front → decorate → patterns
Its yellow background also provided an important clue to its origins.
asserted
background → provide → origins
According to Li, the colour had a particular connection to the emperor.
uncertain
colour → accord → emperor
"The enamel on the vase is special because it uses yangcai or foreign enamels on a yellow ground - a special colour traditionally reserved for the emperor," Li said.
asserted
Li → use → emperor
The quality of its production further supported the conclusion that it was an imperial object rather than an ordinary decorative vase.
asserted
it → support → conclusion
"It's a high quality vase because it was court commissioned, so it would have been of a high value when it was made," Li said.
asserted
Li → commission → value
For the man who had paid only £1 for it, the findings came as a shock.
asserted
findings → pay → shock
Sworders said he had initially been completely unaware of what he had found.
asserted
he → say → what
"The gentleman vendor was in the charity shop and picked out the vase because he liked the look of it.
asserted
he → pick → it
He was unaware of his significance so he put it on eBay with a very low starting price to begin with and there was a lot of interest," Li said.
asserted
Li → put → interest
"He decided to take the vase off eBay and bought it in to us to take a look.
asserted
He → decide → look
He was shocked and very excited when we explained its importance," he added.
asserted
he → shock → importance
£1 purchase becomes £484,000 sale
The vase was initially expected to fetch far less than its eventual selling price.
asserted
vase → become → price
According to Fox News, it had been expected to sell for about $100,000.
uncertain
it → accord → 100,000
Instead, bidding pushed its hammer price to £380,000.
asserted
bidding → push → 380,000
Once the auction fees were added, the successful Chinese buyer paid £484,000 in total.
asserted
buyer → add → total
"This has been the perfect auction story, a bargain find, a culturally important and beautiful work of art and a life changing sum of money for the vendor," Li said.
asserted
Li → change → vendor
The emperor for whom the vase was made was one of the Qing dynasty's longest-ruling monarchs.
asserted
vase → make → monarchs
The Qianlong Emperor eventually abdicated in favour of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor.
asserted
Emperor → abdicate → son
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
