Sat in house for 40 years, vase sells for £3 million

Mailonline: A Chinese porcelain vase once knocked over by the family cat fetched just over £3 million (C$4,770,000) at auction in London yesterday. That’s one hundred and twenty three times times more than expected. The 300-year-old blue and white vase, not dissimilar to the one which famously sold for £53 million two years ago, was bought by an unnamed Chinese telephone bidder based in Hong Kong. The price escalated after a fierce eight-way, ten-minute bidding battle at the North Yorkshire salerooms of Tennants Auctioneers. The owner of the antique Chinese vase had no idea of its value, and it was only discovered by Tennants, during a routine house call to value the contents. The 40cm high bottle-shaped vase, bearing the mark of 18th century Emperor Yongzheng, was conservatively estimated at £20,000-£30,000. But word quickly spread around the antiques world and collectors and dealers from China were prominent in the crowded saleroom as the bidding quickly soared.