A Chinese celadon vase made a record hammer price of 1.2 million at Sheppards online sale in Durrow, Co. Laois today. It had been estimated at 800-1,200. Bidding started at 500. There was a number of serious underbidders, the first of whom dropped out at 130,000. Two bidders quickly chased it all the way to the final price. It was bought by a collector based in Taiwan. The Yongheng vase measures just 54 cms and came from a private collection. It is not known how the 300 year old piece came to Ireland. The sale was based on contents from Castlehyde, home of Michael Flatley on the River Blackwater, but the vase was not part of his collection. The vendor did have some idea that it was possibly worth a lot of money and before the sale a number of potential bidders had registered a serious interest.
