A Chinese vase expected to fetch €1500 to €2000 (around $2200 to $3000) at auction has sold for more than €9 million ($13 million) after a bidding war between collectors.
The blue-and-white Tianqiuping vase went under the hammer at the Osenat auction house in Fontainebleau, near Paris, on Saturday, and achieved a final price of €9.121 million including fees, according to the company website.
The vase has a spherical body and a long cylindrical neck.
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It measures 53cm by 40cm and is decorated with dragons and clouds, according to the listing.
Tianqiuping vases are also known as “celestial sphere” vases because of their shape.
Jean-Pierre Osenat, president of the auction house, told CNN on Tuesday that the vase’s owner, who lives abroad, asked the auctioneer to sell it as part of a consignment of items taken from their late grandmother’s house in Brittany, north-western France.
