Centuries-old Chinese heritage bowl fetches 9.8 million baht at UK auction

An English woman chanced upon a highly valuable “heritage bowl” while cleaning her house. The dish, which had been sitting on a mantelpiece for many years, turned out to be a heritage piece from the last Chinese dynasty, sparking a riot among bidders and fetching a shocking sum of money.

The woman, while cleaning her house, come across the ornately designed heritage bowl, which had been in her family for years but its value was not realised. The beautiful piece had a white and pale blue palette, detailed with intricate engravings of lotus, peonies, and mallows, accompanied by pomegranates, persimmon, and peaches.

A decision was made to take the heritage bowl to an auction house in Bath, Somerset, England for a real valuation. Upon careful inspection, experts referred to the bowl as an incredibly rare asset, dating back to China’s Yongzheng Emperor era (AD 1678 to 1735), making it almost three centuries old.

Initially, experts estimated the value of the heritage bowl to range between £20,000 to £30,000 (around 900,000 to 1.3 million baht). However, the unique piece caught significant attention, leading to a “frantic bidding showdown” before finally being bagged by a Chinese buyer for a staggering £220,000, or roughly 9.8 million baht, over 10 times the estimated price.

Evan Street, an antique expert and auctioneer at Aldridges of Bath, said the owner of the precious heritage bowl had no idea of its true worth. She discovered it while cleaning her house and decided to bring it to the auction house. Just a lackadaisical glance made him realise its real value. He was even more confident after a detailed examination that confirmed it to be a genuine, exceedingly rare piece of Qing dynasty-era blue and white porcelain reported Sanook.

Street further stated that this type of heritage bowl was highly coveted by collectors, pushing its value even higher. It set a new record for Aldridges of Bath due to the short reign of the Yongzheng Emperor, meaning quality pieces from that era are relatively rare to come across.

“There have only been four similar bowls on the auction market in the past 15 years. The last major auction of one was in Hong Kong and it sold for £110,000. So, both we and the owner were astonished and delighted it achieved double.”