Experts have identified it as an exquisite porcelain vessel made for the 18th century Qing dynasty Emperor Qianlong. The guide price for its auction on 12 June starts at €500,000 (£438,000/US$590,000).
It was found by chance among dozens of other pieces of Chinoiserie. “We didn’t like the vase too much and my grandparents didn’t like it either,” said the owner of the piece.
Sotheby’s says “such elaborate and challenging designs are exceedingly rare on Qing imperial porcelain”, describing the piece as bearing “an idyllic landscape with deer and cranes”.
“This vase is the only known example in the world bearing such detail,” Olivier Valmier, Asian arts expert at Sotheby’s, told reporters. “This is a major work of art.”
The only other similar vase that has come to light, though without the cranes, is in the Guimet museum of Asiatic arts in Paris.
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