Chinese teapot en route to charity shop sells for £390K on Bargain Hunt
An extremely rare and historically important Chinese teapot was sold at a Derbyshire auction for GBP390,000 on today’s episode of Bargain Hunt. The ‘ewer’ had been rescued from a carrier bag full of attic junk that its owner had been planning to take to a charity shop. Part way through Thursday’s episode, presenter Natasha Raskin Sharp took a break from following the Red and Blue teams around an antiques sale to sit down with auctioneer Charles Hanson, to chat to him about the extraordinary item.
He said it had been bought to him by a client who wasn’t sure if it was worth anything. “It’s amazing and I think this is the ultimate Bargain Hunt find,” Charles said. “Our client came into the sale room with a bag for charity but then this came out and he said, ‘is it worth anything?'” READ MORE: Bargain Hunt couple discover compass made from rare Derbyshire crystal – but things quickly go south
The antiques expert then went onto explain: “It would have been a ceremonial ewer used by the court of Emperor Qianlong in the 18 th Century. So it’s an imperial piece of enamel on copper, with that imperial yellow ground. Very sacred, very important and very rare.”
Charles said that the item was of huge historical importance and revealed that only two others are known to exist in the world. He continued: “Emperor Qianlong, who was that great emperor of the arts, he wanted his Beijing enamellers to make the very, very best. And the quality is simply out of this world.
“This is one of only three known. One’s in the Museum of Taipei in Taiwan, one’s in the Museum of Beijing in China, and out of humble Burton-upon-Trent, voila, unbelievably we have another.” The find is an example of why people should always check their lofts and think carefully before getting rid of things passed down in the family.
Charles continued: “Unbeknown to the owner, it had been in his house, in his loft, for over 50 years. His grandfather, Ronald, was in Japan in the mid-early 1940s, and it came home and it just languished.”
Charles said it was the most important item he had ever sold (Image: BBC)
Natasha then asked if the tea pot had instantly stood out to Charles, to which he replied: “No, not really. It was sleepy, it took a while to wake up, because we thought, this is interesting, so we booked it in at a low estimate, [thinking] it might be worth GBP100 to GBP150.
“And then, as we look at the objects and we begin to research, suddenly we increase that guide to between GBP20,000 and GBP40,000. Now we’re advising the market that this important ewer is probably going to be guided at between GBP100,000 and GBP150,000. But though, we’re still not at boiling point – literally!”
The auctioneer said he expected there would be global interest in the item when it went under the hammer, adding: “I think it’s probably what Faberge is to Russians and what imperial enamel is to Chinese billionaires, and this to me is a must have object for any important Chinese connoisseur wishing to buy the very best of Emperor Qianlong’s treasures.” He then discussed the significance it had within his own career, saying: “This object, I think for me probably Natasha, is, in its historical placement, the most important object I’ve ever sold.” “So does that make you a little hot under the collar, knowing that you’ll be the one to be wielding the gavel when it goes under the hammer?” Natasha asked.
Charles replied: “When we can handle something so important, definitely.” When it came to the auction, Charles was nervous. He explained afterwards: “The bidding, when I started at GBP100,000, felt quite sturdy.
We had nine phone bidders in China, America, all across the globe. I thought, come one, welcome to Derbyshire. And off we went.
And actually for the first two-and-a-half minutes, bidding stuck at GBP100,000.” “Longest two-and-a-half minutes of your life?” Natasha asked, and Charles replied: “I thought ‘what have I done?'” Then an American bid came in at GBP105,000, which prompted other people to start bidding, and the price quickly began to rise. “When it hit a quarter of a million, I was like ‘Thank you’,” Charles said. “I felt relief because it was my first big milestone.”
The ewer eventually sold for a whopping GBP390,000, making both Charles, and the item’s seller, extremely happy. “When the gavel fell, I felt relief,” Charles said. “And all of my team and staff gave me a huge round of applause and I said, ‘thank you, guys, we made a memory’.”
READ NEXT:
