A Chinese vase, which according to one expert should have been worth between R$7,700 and R$10,000, sold at auction for more than R$46 million after a bidding war between collectors. The owner had found the vase at his grandmother’s house in France, where the auction was held.

The blue and white tianqiuping (Chinese sky globe) vase (1) was sold on Saturday at the Osenat auction house in Fontainebleau, near Paris, for R$46 million including taxes, according to the company. Web site.

The term tianqiuping, sometimes translated as ‘heavenly orb vessel’, derives from the shape of the vessel, which is characterized by a generously proportioned spherical body elevated with a long cylindrical neck.

During the Qianlong period (1736-96), when Tianqiuping came to the fore, these vases were produced in various sizes. The size of the larger versions would have given them a commanding presence in one of the great halls or halls of the Imperial Palace. The vase sold on Saturday measures 53.34cm x 40.64cm and is decorated with dragons and clouds.

Jean-Pierre Osenat, head of the auction house, told CNN on Tuesday that the owner of the vase, who lives abroad, has asked the auctioneer to sell it as part of a consignment of items taken from his late grandmother’s home in northwest Brittany. France. Now their lives will change completely,” he said. “It’s strange that they admit what happened.”

The auctioneer noted that the old woman is an art collector and has owned the vase for 30 years, adding that there were early signs of great interest in the vase when dozens of people came to inspect the vase during a pre-auction exhibition.

Osenat stated that around 300 to 400 people are interested in participating in the bids, limiting the number of bidders to 30. He said these people still had to pay a deposit to participate.

At the time of the bidding, there were 15 people participating by phone and 15 people in the auction house, and 10 people were still bidding when the price exceeded R$26 million.

“Incredible,” said Osenat, adding that the previous highest selling price of an object was in 2007, when a sword used by Napoleon in the Battle of Marengo was sold for R$33 million in 1800.

The auctioneer explained that while an appraiser said the vase was dated to the 20th century and therefore not rare, collectors believed it was a very rare example of an 18th-century tianqiuping vase.

“I believe in the hammer, that is, I think the law of supply and demand determines the market price,” he said. “One expert’s vision cannot exceed 300 people’s”.

Sometimes at auctions you may see two or three people who mistakenly believe that a product is worth much more than what an expert says, but not 300, Osenat said. “I think the market spoke louder,” he said, adding that he now believes the vase is from the 18th century.

The as yet unidentified buyer is Chinese. According to the auctioneer, in recent years Chinese buyers have shown increased interest in buying historical artifacts they believe have been stolen from their country in the past.