Source: CNN
Described by Sotheby's as a "lost masterpiece," the rare 18th-century artifact spent the last 50 years in a remote house in central Europe, surrounded by the owner's pet cats and dogs.
The highly unusual vase — featuring a blue-and-white floral design visible through its lattice-like body — was made specifically for the Qianlong Emperor, who ruled China for more than six decades. Only a handful of such "double-walled" vases were ever produced, during 1742 and 1743, under the supervision of imperial kiln master Tang Ying. This pear-shaped piece is an example of *yangcai* ("foreign colors") porcelain, which incorporated Western-style enamels and coloring techniques.
"It is a miracle that this extraordinarily fragile vase survived half a century in a home surrounded by countless pets," said Nicolas Chow, chairman of Sotheby's Asia, ahead of the sale.
Rediscovery in a European Country Home
The vase was discovered by Amsterdam-based art consultant Johan Bosch van Rosenthal during a visit to assess a collection at a private residence in central Europe. The owner, an elderly woman believed to have inherited the piece, pointed out the partly gilded vase among her belongings, noting it was something she had always considered special.
"We reached a room with a number of Chinese works of art inherited many years ago. Her four cats walked around freely among these," van Rosenthal recalled in a video released by Sotheby’s.
Experts at Sotheby's confirmed the vase matched records from the Chinese imperial household archives. It had originally been housed in the Palace of Heavenly Purity within Beijing’s Forbidden City and was once personally praised by the Qianlong Emperor.
The piece, known as the Harry Garner Reticulated Vase, previously appeared at Sotheby's London in 1954, selling for £44 ($56). It was resold later that year for £80 ($101). Adjusted for inflation, the original price equates to roughly $1,500 today.
Strong Market for Rediscovered Chinese Art
This sale follows a broader trend of high-value rediscoveries of Chinese imperial artifacts. In 2010, a similar Qianlong-era vase found during a London home clearout sold for £43 million ($68 million), then a record for Chinese art. Another 18th-century vase, discovered in a French attic inside a shoebox, fetched €16.2 million ($19 million) in 2018.
Sotheby's recent Hong Kong spring sales series, delayed due to pandemic-related disruptions, concluded with total proceeds of HK$3.22 billion ($411 million), despite being about 15% below last year's figures.
Highlights included a Ming dynasty table sold for HK$60 million ($7.7 million) and a couch-bed for HK$49 million ($6.3 million). A blue-and-white Ming porcelain jar fetched nearly HK$34 million ($4.4 million).
The top lot of the week was Sanyu’s nude painting *Quatre Nus*, which sold for over HK$258 million ($33.3 million). David Hockney’s *30 Sunflowers* followed with a result of HK$114.8 million ($14.8 million), marking the second-highest price ever achieved for a Western artwork at auction in Asia.
