Vase found in Ohio home sells for nearly $445,000
Check your cabinets, ladies and gentlemen.
A vase found in the kitchen cabinet of a well-known Cincinnati couple sold in a Chicago auction recently for nearly $445,000.
The “exceedingly rare” Chinese Clairde-lune Glazed Porcelain Bottle Vase was previously owned by Charles Fleischmann III and his wife, Blair, in their Indian Hill home, according to a release from the auction house Freeman’s Hindman.
The term “clair-de-lune glaze” means “moonlight” in French and refers to the vase’s glaze, which has a cobalt content of about 1% and was reserved exclusively for imperial porcelains, according to fine arts company Sotheby’s.
The “elegant light-blue,” 6-inch vase sold for almost 300 times its pre-sale estimate in the Chinese and Himalayan Works of Art sale. The piece was initially estimated conservatively at $1,500 to $2,500 because the auctioneers didn’t have the complete documentation for the item. Despite this, 20 phone bidders vied over the vase, which ultimately sold for $444,500.
What makes the vase so special is the Yongzheng mark on its base. The sixcharacter mark indicates that the porcelain was created in the imperial kiln during the Yongzheng Emperor’s rule in the 18th century. The Chinese emperor only reigned for 13 years, which means a small number of pieces were made during this period.
The vase is also rarer than others created during this period because the mark is in bronze script. Only three such examples of this are known to exist, including one in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Freeman’s Hindman stated.
The Fleischmanns found the vase “tucked away” inside their kitchen cabinet, the release stated. It is believed the couple acquired the vase during their “extensive and adventurous” travels.
The couple collected numerous objects, many of which are for auction in Freeman’s Hindman’s “Beyond a Cincinnati Legacy: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fleischmann III, Part I.”
Charles Fleischmann was the greatgrandson of Charles Fleischmann, cofounder of Fleischmann Yeast Co., and a “longtime supporter and board member of Cincinnati art institutions,” according to his 2011 obituary.
“Mr. Fleischmann, nicknamed ‘Skip,’ was a generous donor to many arts and cultural organizations along with his wife, Blair, who survives him,” the obituary reads. “He had served on the boards of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Art Museum and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.”
He and his wife donated more than 3,000 objects to the Cincinnati Art Museum, according to Freeman’s Hindman’s website.