It’s not often that sifting through an attic turns up anything more valuable than sepia-toned photos of distant relatives. One Parisian family that recently discovered an ornate vase stowed away in a shoebox had rather more luck. When Olivier Valmier, Asian Arts Specialist at Sotheby’s Paris, was granted a peek into the box, he soon realised the true value of this particular piece of porcelain. It was nothing less than an imperial Yangcai vase, custom-made for the 18th-century Qing dynasty Qianlong Emperor.
While Sotheby’s claims that it is the only existing such item not safely stashed in a museum, it is undeniable that the vase is an intact specimen of the Yangcai style. And there isn’t many of those to be had. Produced during imperial Chinese times, such items were either unique one-offs or part of a specially commissioned pair.
This particular rediscovered relic has been hailed as a splendid example of the porcelain of the period, with its mixed landscape of deer, cranes and pine trees showing both Western and Chinese influences. With the only comparable piece kept in Guimet Museum of Asian Art in Paris, it’s no wonder the yangcai vase got snapped up for a staggering €16,182,800, almost 23 times the original estimate.