Yeah, I’d’ve bought it – pretty little vase!

I have an elegant little Chinese sauce dish that I bought for $3 at Goodwill. Brass, with intricate enamel patterns top and bottom. I use it as a keeper for my Unicorn Magnum pepper mill. It’s perfect for that purpose: Its raised edge makes it easy to grasp, and its dark variegated upper surface conceals pepper dust. Its bottom surface has a beautiful blue pattern. I’ve often wondered about its true value.

“A vase which sold for just £1 at a charity shop is now listed at £80,000 after it was revealed it was made for an 18th century Chinese emperor.

The Qianlong Emperor's vase made its way to a store in Hertfordshire where it was picked up for £1 and then listed on eBay for a pittance.

But the unnamed buyer soon realised it must be worth more than he was asking when he was inundated with offers for the tiny yellow vase.

He took it to Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers' in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, who told him the eight inch vase was made for the emperor who reigned from 1735 to 1796…”

https://mol.im/a/7413773

I'd say that's a pretty good return on investment.

I wouldn't have been suspicious that it would be worth anything, it looks so new. Considering it's over 200 years old, it appears to be in very good shape, I would've thought it was something modern.

Now sold. A pretty little thing…

“A vase which was bought for just £1 in a charity shop has sold for £484,000 after it revealed that it was made for an 18th century emperor.

The Qianlong Emperor's vase made its way to a store in Hertfordshire where it was picked up for £1 and then listed on eBay for a pittance.

The vase sparked a bidding war, with the successful Chinese buyer paying a hammer price of £380,000 [$486,655]…”

https://mol.im/a/7667725