Found Vase Sets $83 Million China Art Record in Auction Battle

A battle between Asian buyers last night pushed a Qianlong-dynasty vase to a price of 51.6 million pounds ($83.2 million), an auction record for Chinese art.

The vase had been discovered during a routine house clearance in the suburb of Pinner in London. Rather than being offered at the central salerooms of Christie’s International or Sotheby’s, it was sold by Bainbridges, a west London auction house, with an estimate of 800,000 pounds to 1.2 million pounds. It made 40 times as much, at a hammer price of 43 million pounds. After a Bloomberg preview report, dealers traveled to the provincial sale from Asia. Others were in town for Asian Art in London’s schedule of gallery exhibitions, shows and lectures.