Long-lost Imperial Chinese vase sells for £15million — eight years after its twin fetched £43million
The second of the porcelain pair has been sold to a Chinese bidder at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong after being missing for 94 years
A LONG-lost 1740s Chinese vase has sold for almost £15million — eight years after its twin fetched £43million.
The first pot took the antiques world by storm and went to a Chinese buyer at West London auctioneers Bainbridges.
Now the other has also been sold to a Chinese bidder at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong after being missing for 94 years.
Both deals were anonymous so it is not known if they are reunited after a 260-year split.
The first of the 16in porcelain Qianlong masterpieces had been passed to Isle of Wight solicitor Tony Johnson, 62, after being brought from China decades ago.
The other was bought by a private Japanese collector in 1924 and remained in the family.
A spokesman for auctioneers Sotheby’s said: “Pair to the famous Bainbridge vase which made international headlines when it was sold in the UK in 2010, the vase had remained dormant in Japan for almost a century since its acquisition in 1924.
“Carved and exquisitely painted with four pairs of fish, the exceptional famille-rose reticulated vase is skilfully modelled with an inner blue-and-white vase.
“It ranks among the most complex porcelains ever commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor.
“This porcelain masterpiece is reflects of the exacting standards on technical proficiency and the insatiable demand for stylistic novelty at the court of the Qianlong Emperor.
“Reticulated yangcai vases with double walls represent one of the last great innovations. When peering through the outer shell, the Emperor would have had a real surprise, since nothing on the outside of this vase would have prepared him for what there is inside.”
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