Vase misidentified as a rare artefact sold for $8 million

• A Chinese porcelain vase valued at $2,000 was sold at a French auction for $7.59 million.
• Bidders erroneously believed it was a unique 18th-century artefact.
• The vase actually belonged to the seller’s grandmother from the previous century.

A vase valued slightly less than $2,000 was sold at a French auction for a staggering $7.59 million due to a bidding war. After including the seller’s commission, the grand amount was $8.99 million.

The vase in question is an “average” Chinese vase, but bidders erroneously believed it was a unique 18th-century artefact, resulting in the vase being sold for about 4,000 times its assessed worth.

A tianqiuping-style porcelain vase was placed up for auction by a French woman living in an overseas region, according to a Guardian investigation. Her deceased mother bequeathed it to her. She arranged for the 54-centimetre-tall vase to be collected directly from her mother’s estate in Brittany without ever having seen it.

The auction house was informed that the object belonged to the seller’s grandmother, a Parisian collector “in the previous century.”

Jean-Pierre, an auctioneer at the Osenat Auction House, described the situation as “wild.” The auction company described the vase as “quite unremarkable” and stated that it was from the 20th century.

If it were 200 years older, it would have been incredibly uncommon, according to an analyst at the auction house.

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