A Birthday Present

A very vague conclusion drawn was that the Emperor must have got it made from someone for his birthday. Early empires have witnessed situations where the Kings used to gift them rare stuff to show their edge over other kings. This Chinese Vase too was one amongst the most valued item by the aristocrats. Qianlong gifted himself this for his 44th birthday. As more facts about the vase were being laid, the lady’s inquisitiveness in the vase and in its worth increased…

The Man Behind It

One of the biggest question which every mind at the Sotheby’s had was, who constructed this beautiful masterpiece? Who was the man behind it? A strong possibility was that the Italian Jesuit missionary Giuseppe Castiglione made it. This missionary served as an artist for three consecutive emperors-Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong. His work surely left everyone curious till the time…

These facts further heated up the war between the bidders and the next what took place was amazing…

A Million Dollar More

Both the bidders were increasing their bids with a million dollar every time. An eleven million dollar followed by twelve, thirteen and so on… The Sotheby’s had never witnessed such an auction round in its life yet. The bid increased with every breath of the respective bidders. Finally, the hammer hits down and the amount for which the vase was sold blew the audience away…

It’s Sold!

Who would have even thought that the bidders at an auction would be so astonished by the rich and royal history of an artifact, that they would be ready to spend millions over it? Well, that’s true for this Yangcai Chinese Vase. The vase which was lying asleep in an attic for a couple of decades and was not able to impress its possessors even after it’s splendid appearance was sold for $19 million dollars.

What A Price! The new home definitely served it’s owner a good fortune, rather the fortune which none could even imagine. Her luck did not stop here. The other collectibles she found along with the vase were too sold for a good price…

History In Making

Not only was the vase a history but it even created a history at Sotheby’s Paris. After an extensive bidding round of some 30 minutes, the Sotheby’s sold it’s most valued artifact. No other collectible in the history of Sotheby’s ever broke the records to this extent. The value for which the vase was sold was some hundred times or even more than its actual value.

Who was this bidder, who paid such a heavy amount for a Vase?

Secret Buyer

Of course, everyone was interested in knowing the man who paid such exorbitantly high price for this Historical Chinese Vase. It must have been an Emperor himself who owns billions under his empire. Or maybe he was a Russian Billionaire. However, the Sotheby’s decided to keep the real identity of this bidder under covers. All that one knows is that he was bidder number 217.

Surely, this man saw something beyond what Oliver Valmier saw in this Chinese Vase. But what was that?