£25m Chinese vase’s ‘lost twin’ goes up for auction
A “LOST” Chinese vase identical to one sold for about £25million by a British family has turned up after 94 years.
The 18th century Qianlong piece forms a matching pair with the vase that caused a sensation when Isle of Wight solicitor Tony Johnson and his mother auctioned it in 2010.
The 16in item was “hammered down” for a record £43million. But the Chinese buyer baulked at the £8million fees of the auction house in Ruislip, West London, and another buyer paid £20-£25million for it in 2013. The newly found vase was bought by a Japanese collector in 1924 and has been owned by that family since. Its sale in Hong Kong is on October 3. The auctioneer, Sotheby’s Asia, said: “Our highly conservative estimate is £7million but we expect multiple times that.” The vases were looted from China by British and French troops in 1860.