Arrangements are being made to ship the vase that sold for €740,000 at auction in Durrow on Saturday to its new owner in Paris.
The Chinese vase had a guide price of €800 to €1200 but sold for a multiple of that after a bidding war involving buyers from more than 40 countries.
The Qing Period Blue and White Double Gourd Vase was offered for sale by a Dublin-based vendor at Sheppard’s in Durrow on Saturday morning.
Sheppard’s Irish Auction House told RTE that the 18th century, 23cm-tall vase with scroll handles was sold to a Parisienne buyer.
The vase would have originally been given as a prestigious gift by the Chinese emperor to an important visitor. It is not known how the vase originally ended up in Ireland.
Auctioneers said this type of imperial vase is extremely rare.
The vase’s owner, a private individual in Dublin, was said to be shocked on hearing how much it sold for.
The auction house believes the sale is the highest ever for an art object at a public auction in Ireland.
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