Chinese vase smashes Ireland record

The Chinese vase smashes the record for the most expensive item sold at Sheppard's Irish Auction House in June. [File Photo: ifzsd.com]

A Chinese vase has smashed the record for the most expensive item sold in an Irish public auction.

That's according to the Irish Times, who report that the vase was sold at Sheppard's Irish Auction House in June.

The piece is said to have been part of the collection of Emperor Qianlong (1735-1799) - but despite that, it had a guide price of just €1,200.

Indeed, the owner is reported to have told the auctioneer that he expected to fetch only €800 for it. In the end, it sold to a telephone bidder in Paris for a whopping €740,000 - some 600 times the estimate.

We've reported extensively over the last few months in the rapidly growing interest amongst global buyers for Chinese pieces.

For example, one of our favorite stories came a year ago, when a Chinese vase that was hidden away for over three decades was sold for £650,000. 

Unaware of the true value of the vase, the owners from the West Midlands used the vase as a doorstop for 36 years. 

Hansons Auctioneers in Derbyshire who sold the vase described it as "brilliantly painted" and "a work of art". 

It is thought the vase was "possibly manufactured by the Imperial kilns for the Emperor's Summer Palace".