The vase, a Chinese Kong vase from the late 1800s came from an estate in Helsingborg. The auction company, Skåne’s Auctions Agency, was commissioned to value the vase, reports Helsingborgs-Dagblad.
– We had an external expert look at the vase and he valued it at SEK 5,000, says Per Karlsson, appraiser at Skåne’s auction office, to the newspaper.
Lots of Chinese started bidding
When the vase went out on a digital auction site with hundreds of thousands of customers, unexpected things happened. A bidding war began and in the end the vase had 257 bids.
– There were a lot of Chinese who participated in the bidding and it was a Chinese man who won, reveals Per Karlsson.
The final price was several times more than what the Chinese vase was called for – SEK 1,001,599.
“It’s a difficult market”
The bidding war for the small square vase, which is 30 centimeters high and weighs a couple of three kilos, is described as hysterical.
– It’s a difficult market, it’s really only the Chinese who know what these vases are worth. But 5,000 was perhaps a bit low, says Per Karlsson.
At the same time, it is not the first time that the auction house from Landskrona has sold a Chinese vase at a surprisingly high price. In autumn 2021, another Chinese vase was auctioned for SEK 600 – it was sold for SEK 280,000 at auction.