Bargain Hunt was the scene of a huge sale when a teapot, which someone had found in their loft and was going to go to a charity show, sold for almost £400,000. Host Natasha Raskin Sharp was able to give some good advice for all viewers after the amazing spectacle.
Auctioneer Charles Hansen made the sale in Thursday’s episode of the BBC 1 antiques show and he described it as “the ultimate Bargain Hunt find.” Derbyshire-based Charles said it had been bought to him by a client who wasn’t sure if it was worth anything, DerbyshireLive reported.
He explained: “Our client came into the sale room with a bag for charity but then this came out and he said, ‘is it worth anything?’” The item was a Chinese teapot or ‘ewer’ which was in a carrier bag full of junk the owner was about to take to a charity shop.
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The item would have been used by the court of Emperor Qianlong in the 18th Century and Charles described it as an imperial piece of enamel on copper, with that imperial yellow ground. He added: “Very sacred, very important and very rare.”
He continued: “Emperor Qianlong, who was that great emperor of the arts, he wanted his Beijing enamellers to make the very, very best. And the quality is simply out of this world.
“This is one of only three known. One’s in the Museum of Taipei in Taiwan, one’s in the Museum of Beijing in China, and out of humble Burton-upon-Trent, voila, unbelievably we have another.”
The find is an example of why people should always check their lofts and think carefully before getting rid of things passed down in the family. Charles continued: “Unbeknown to the owner, it had been in his house, in his loft, for over 50 years. His grandfather, Ronald, was in Japan in the mid-early 1940s, and it came home and it just languished.”
Natasha then asked if the tea pot had instantly stood out to Charles, to which he replied: “No, not really. It was sleepy, it took a while to wake up, because we thought, this is interesting, so we booked it in at a low estimate, [thinking] it might be worth £100 to £150.
“And then, as we look at the objects and we begin to research, suddenly we increase that guide to between £20,000 and £40,000. Now we’re advising the market that this important ewer is probably going to be guided at between £100,000 and £150,000. But though, we’re still not at boiling point – literally!”
He then discussed the significance it had within his own career, saying: “This object, I think for me probably Natasha, is, in its historical placement, the most important object I’ve ever sold.”
When it came to the auction, Charles was nervous. He explained afterwards: “The bidding, when I started at £100,000, felt quite sturdy. We had nine phone bidders in China, America, all across the globe. I thought, come one, welcome to Derbyshire. And off we went. And actually for the first two-and-a-half minutes, bidding stuck at £100,000.”
“Longest two-and-a-half minutes of your life?” Natasha asked, and Charles replied: “I thought ‘what have I done?’”
Then an American bid came in at £105,000, which prompted other people to start bidding, and the price quickly began to rise. “When it hit a quarter of a million, I was like ‘Thank you’,” Charles said. “I felt relief because it was my first big milestone.”
Natasha went on to issue a message to viewers in response to the sale of the object, encouraging them to check for such antiques in their own homes. She said: “What a result! The lesson here is check your loft for hidden ewers.”
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