Vase found in family’s attic auctioned for £14.3m

AN 18TH-CENTURY vase discovered in an attic has fetched €16.2m (£14.3m) in France.

The recently discovered treasure from Imperial China sparked a 25-minute bidding war at Sotheby’s.

It was discovered by chance in the attic of a French family home and taken into the auction house in Paris in a shoebox.

Henry Howard-Sneyd, Sotheby’s chairman of Asian Art, Europe and Americas, said: “Given the huge appetite for Chinese art among today’s collectors, now is the moment to scour your homes and attics, and to come to us with anything you might find!”

The vase features a landscape with deer, cranes and pine trees.