Auction Reviews & Results

It’s a long-standing dream of most antique enthusiasts to bag a bargain and turn a substantial profit on a piece. What is invariably even more expecting, however, is when a valuable item is sourced from unofficial means, such as a boot sale.

This is exactly what happened to one resident of New Haven, Connecticut, who purchased a small porcelain bowl from a backyard sale for $35 – and now stands to sell it for upward of US$400,000 through auction house Sotheby’s. With the benefit of hindsight, the previous owner is likely wishing they haggled over the asking price a little.

Read moreRare 15th Century Chinese Ming Bowl Purchased for $35 at a House Sale

A Chinese blue and white bottle vase set a online record when it achieved a hammer price of over £3 million at the close of the sale in Singapore this week.

The 15 inch high bottle form vase, with a six character Yongzheng (1722-35) mark to the base. It featured in a timed sale on April 18th to May 3rd held by Hotlotz.

The price is a record for Hotlotz and the biggest selling lot on thesaleroom.com

The vase was decorated with a nine dragon design amongst stylised clouds. It is thought to be to another mark and period vase of the same size and similar decoration (two-dragon) that took a house record of £2.6 million at Tennants of Leyburn in 2012 and was resold by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong in 2015 for HK$75.8 million approx £7.5 million.

Read moreYongzheng Vase Sells Online For 3 Million UK Pounds

I was lost for words when I read this story in a UK national paper, more than anything I was embarrassed for the “Asian Art Expert“ that actually fronted this story.

I dont know why a journalist would even consider publishing this story without first researching the facts, I think they call it due diligence. Glorying a story sells papers I suppose.

The story: An Indian gem dealer that emigrated to England in the 1960s left a chest of treasures when he died aged 96 in 2012.

His 66 year old son was going through his fathers possessions when he came across the tiny jade piece and was apparently stunned when “Asian Art Expert“ expert at Halls Auctioneers in Shrewsbury told the owner the piece was worth 2 to 3 million UK pounds.

Read morePensioner Discovers Ancient Rare Jade Worth £3 Million – NOT

The story goes a woman bought these jars a few years back at an antiques fair in Champlain Valley.

She brought the pair of Doucai dragon jars to Global Garage Sales in Colchester to be sold online. Peter Becker and Erik Holcomb, co-founders of Global Garage Sales, posted the jars on Ebay for a seven day auction.

Feb 05, 2020 . A pair of doucai dragon jars sell for US $88,888.88 on Ebay USA. The jars had 100 bids with 19 bidders.

Read morePair Of Doucai Dragon Jars Sell For US $88,888.88 On Ebay USA

A piece of Qing porcelain sells for $270,000 at Pook and Pook in Downington Pennsylvania auction.

A Chinese porcelain vase from the Qinglong period, which incorporates Dutch figures has brought global interest.

The vase was 16 inches high and 12 inches wide and came from a private collection in New Jersey. It carried an auction estimate of just $10,00-15,00.

Read moreDouble Dutch! Qianlong Vase Sells For $270,000

23rd of November 2019. A small iron red and underglaze blue bowl bearing Daoguang seal mark sells for $12,100 on Ebay USA. The vase had 29 bids with 7 bidders.

Sellers original description: NO RESERVE. Rare Antique or Vintage Chinese Qing Dynasty Blue and White Small Porcelain Bowl With Character Mark. There are no Cracks or any damages. A few glaze contractions and a little bit of brown age spot on the inside center bottom part.

Read moreeBay USA – $12,100 For Small Chinese Daoguang Bowl

A very fortunate man bought a vase from a charity shop in England for one pound sterling, because he thought it was attractive. He then decided to put the vase on e-bay. It aroused so much interest he decided to take it off and take it to a antique valuer.

At Sworders fine art auctioneers in Essex, expert Yexue Li immediately knew she was looking at a valuable piece. The vase turned out to be an 18th century piece made for the Emperor Qianlong. The colours and inscription confirmed its provenance.

Read moreQianlong Vase Bought For £1 Sells For £484,000

After sitting on a shelf in the family home for years, a five inch tall china teapot with a damaged lid which had been handed down through the generations and whose importance was unknown until antiques expert Lee Young visited the home to assess some family ornaments ‘My heart skipped a beat’ he said when it was handed to him.

Read moreChipped Qianlong Tea Pot Sells For 1 Million Sterling