Chinese vase fetches record $69 million in UK auction

Andy Bloxham - Mystery surrounds the identities of the mother and son who sold a rare Chinese vase they found in their parents' loft for £53million.

The pair are understood to have gone into hiding while they decide what to do with the vast sum and the rest of their lives.

Their identities were not widely known and few in the community of Pinner, in Middlesex, even knew the exquisite item was due for sale.

They are thought to have found the vase while they were clearing out their parents' house after the elderly couple's death. ....

They took it to the local auctioneer Bainbridges, in nearby Ruislip, who were in turn excited by the find and valued it at between £800,000 and £1.2m.

However, no one expected the reaction from Chinese buyers, who pushed the bidding up over 30 frenzied minutes to a world record £43m ...

via Chinese vase sells for £53m: the ultimate cash in the attic - Telegraph.

"It's a world record for a piece of Asian art," Helen Porter of West London auction house Bainbridges told Reuters. ...

According to the auctioneer, the vase dates from the 1740s from the Qianlong period, would have resided "no doubt" in the Chinese Royal Palace and was fired in the imperial kilns.

The auctioneer said it was a mystery how the 16-inch high piece ended up in London. Its provenance was described simply as belonging to an English family collection, probably acquired during the 1930s. ...

via Reuters