‘Ordinary’ Chinese vase sells for almost €8m after ferocious bidding war

Tianqiuping-style porcelain sells for nearly 4,000 times its estimated value after buyers are convinced it is a rare artefact

An ordinary" Chinese vase put up for auction in France and valued at 2,000 (1,745) has sold for almost 8m after a ferocious bidding war among buyers convinced it was a rare 18th-century artefact.

At the sale in Fontainebleau near Paris, auctioneers were astonished as the offers from about 30 mainly Chinese bidders kept on coming. When the hammer fell the vase had been sold for 7.7m - almost 4,000 times its estimated value. With the seller's fees, the final purchase price was 9.12m.