Mantelpiece vases are worth £2 million

Two Chinese vases kept on a family’s mantelpiece for years have been identified as worth £2 million.

Jeremy Morgan, a Chinese art expert from Christie’s, was being taken around a client’s house, and was only shown the vases as an afterthought.

To his amazement, he realised they were 18th-century examples from the court of the Qianlong emperor, and so rare that no other pair is believed to exist. “It made my heart thump,” Mr Morgan said. “You will be lucky to see a single vase like this in your lifetime, and I don’t think you’ll see another pair.”

The owner, who does not wish to be named, inherited the vases from a relative who bought them in the 1930s and they had previously been valued at £1,000. They are expected to fetch over £2 million at Christie’s auction on May 9 in London.