A Chinese wine jug has yielded more than a ton at an auction in Twente. Auctioneer Laurens ten Vergert did not know what hit him, he tells RTV Oost.
The starting bid of the jug was 3000 euros. “No, that is not an appraisal error,” says Ten Vergert. “Chinese porcelain is very difficult to estimate. Because you can’t see who used it.”
He suspects that the value took off due to the origin of the jug. “Probably this is imperial porcelain. Or used in a palace. And the bidders must have known that.” It is certain that it concerns a wine jug from the eighteenth century from the time of Emperor Qianlong.
Several people bid online and someone who was physically present in the room for an interested party. “That hardly ever happens anymore. The bidders follow it online or by telephone,” says Ten Vergert.
A bidding war soon followed. “We looked at each other and thought: what is happening here now? We really did not see that coming. There was some interest in it, but this was a complete surprise to us. from thirty to thirty-five thousand and so on.”
Loud applause
When the auctioneer collected 105,000 euros, there was a loud round of applause. “Everyone felt the tension and release as the auction progressed.”
In the more than fourteen years that Ten Vergert has been doing the work, he has never experienced that. “I will never forget this day,” he says with a big smile on his face. “I remember the day from start to finish. Like a movie I can play again in a minute.”
The wine jug was eventually bought by someone from China. “Many Chinese buy back the lost pieces. They absolutely love it and know exactly where the pieces come from.”
First emails
Since last weekend’s huge sale amount, several owners of Chinese porcelain have already reported to the auction house. “We have indeed already received the first emails. They have a jar and ask if we can do something with it. So that means looking at a lot of photos and helping all the people.”
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