Rare vase sells for £50,000
A furious bidding war broke out when a rare Chinese vase went under the hammer at a Shrewsbury auction house.
The elegant pear-shaped 'Empress' vase, probably Daoguang, was part of the Asian Art sale held by Halls at their Battlefield auction house on Wednesday.
With an estimate of just £5,000, the richly decorated vase was finally sold for £50,000 to a telephone bidder.
Achieving 10 times its pre-sale estimate, the vase was decorated using a technique known as doucai with two ornamental pheasants perched on rocks amid flowering magnolia and peonies, elements believed to represent the Empress.
The auction, which attracted interest from collectors and sellers around the globe, also saw a hexagonal shaped vase with guan type glaze from an American owner sell for £19,000.
Alexander Clement, Halls' Asian art specialist, said: "It's another fantastic result for the owner of the Empress vase and the American vendor of the guan hexagonal vase will also be delighted."
Halls' growing reputation for selling highly priced Chinese antiques attracted entries from across the UK and as far away as the United States, Canada and Europe.
A rare 18th century Chinese cinnabar lacquer brush pot sold for £155,000 and a pair of 19th century Chinese Daoguang vases fetched £85,000 at previous Asian art auctions.
