A vase initially dismissed by a BBC antiques expert as a “very clever reproduction” fetched an eye-watering £53million after languishing in an attic for four decades.
Back in the 1970s, the BBC’s antiques game show ‘Going for a Song’ paved the way for what would become the beloved ‘Antiques Roadshow’. The format involved a mix of punters and connoisseurs examining various antiques to determine their authenticity and value.
On one occasion, a working-class couple brought in a vase for an appraisal on the show, only to be told by the expert that the 16-inch tall porcelain piece was not authentic. Considering the vase a family treasure regardless, they relegated it to the obscurity of their attic for 40 years.
Following the couple’s passing, their kin discovered the vase while sorting through their belongings.
The vase, which had been merely adorning a bookshelf, caught the attention of Bainbridges Auction House manager David Reay, as reported by the Express.
In 2010, he shared: “They told me it had been valued at just £800 two months earlier. They also told me the owner had taken it on Going for a Song on the BBC about 40 years ago. He was told it was a very clever reproduction.”
The vase was then taken to the Arts Club of London, where it underwent further scrutiny by experts. It turned out to be a creation from around 1740, made for the fifth emperor of China’s Qing dynasty and had been passed down through generations by a globe-trotting ancestor.
The item, believed to have been looted from a Peking imperial palace by British and French soldiers during the Second Opium War, was up for auction.
The troops had been permitted to pillage Emperor Xianfeng’s Summer Palace of Gold before it was set on fire.
With an initial estimate of around £1million, the bidding quickly escalated, with the final price reaching a whopping £43million. After adding commission and VAT, the final cost came to an eye-watering £53,105,000.
Auctioneer Peter Bainbridge remarked: “There was a silence that wrapped itself around the sale as the figure grew slowly but surely up to the sky. I’m an auctioneer, so at that point, I’m just doing the professional job I’m paid to do.
“But once the hammer’s down, you do take stock slightly and think, ‘Oh, wow, that’s really rather a lot of money’.
The owners were so shocked they had to run out of the room to collect their thoughts, while Peter pocketed around £10million as commission for the sale.
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.