This happened in Paris. A bulb-shaped vase made in 18th Century China turned up in a French woman's inheritance, so she stuffed it into a shoebox, protected only by some newspaper, and took the train and the metro subway and a walk to get to the offices of Sotheby's, the auctioneers of fine items.
Well, they oohed and aahed there, they did. The vase is said to be painted in delicate shades of green, blue, yellow and purple, and os supposed to be "an exceptionally well-preserved porcelain vessel made for an emperor of the Qing dynasty."
Seen on the vase are deer, birds, and woodland animals, and there is gold embroidery around the neck, always a classy touch. A Sotheby’s spokeswoman said: “They knew it had some value but nothing like that, nor that it was from the Qing dynasty.”
Well, neither did I, but I can tell you when National Beer started using Chester Peake as their mascot, so that has to count for something. I don't know anything about the Qing Dynasty, among other things.
So this valuable vase had spent a long time in the family attic over there in France, and imagine how many times someone came up to the attic looking for their ballon de football or le manteau de l'oncle Pierre and rested their baguette on the vase. Good thing it never broke, because after 20 minute of furious bidding (can you just imagine the frenzy?) it was auctioned to an Asian who wishes to remain anonymous, and $19 million poorer.
I happen to have in my boxes of priceless memorabilia downstairs a set of National beer mugs, glass, from the 60s, along with a plastic nut dish bearing the detailed likeness of Mr. Peanut.
Hello, Sotheby's?
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