Losing a parent can cause psychological trauma which can take a long period to heal. Some might even argue, the pain never completely goes away. But losing both of them together can succumb you to a kind of grief that can truly envelop you. Damon and Leanne were two such unfortunate people who had to learn to exist in a world where their parents didn't. After the funeral, the siblings were left with the grievous task of cleaning out and selling their parents' house in Greater London. They were aware of the fact that it will be a sensitive experience but what followed next was something neither of the two could have seen coming.
It was a gloomy day in Pinner, a town in Greater London. Damon and Leanne were standing in front of their late parents' house. Both of them want the other person to step in first. They have been putting this off for weeks now. Neither of them was up for the task of cleaning out their childhood home. But it had to be done, as the house was to be put up for sale.
The only thing that made this difficult task slightly easier was the fact that they had each other. Neither of them was going to have to do this alone. It had been more than a week since the funeral. It took them all this time to gather up the courage and finally do this. They knew it was going to be difficult for them but at least they could count on each other to be strong.
After what felt like hours, Damon and Leanne finally entered the house. It was welcoming, from the open front door to the wide hallway. The walls were covered with their photographs, the first day of school, graduation, weekend picnics. The floor was carpeted a dusty brown color, the same one Leanne and her mother picked out all those years ago. They let their eyes wander around for a bit, soaking it all in. This house was made of love.
They decided to work by separating their tasks. Leanne got started with the downstairs area, which included the living room and the kitchen, while Damon took the upstairs area, which included the bedrooms and the attic. Leanne was trying to keep it together but Damon could tell she was struggling. Going through their parents' belongings was not easy for either one of them. Every little item was bringing back a rush of memories.
Damon was emotionally drained by the time he was done with their parents' bedrooms. Handling their belongings took a lot out of him. He took a moment to collect himself and then began to make his way to the attic, climbing up those wooden stairs, one painfully slow step at a time.
The attic was clear and clean, the light was pouring in from an arched ceiling. It was like a cave of wonders, filled with mysterious boxes. Damon took a deep breath and began putting things away. He began rooting through the boxes, trying to organize them. He discovered a bunch of things, an old crockery set, a box full of old mismatched shoes, clothes, books, and many strange items.
After some digging around something in the sharp corner of the attic caught his attention. That corner was filled with a whole bunch of beautiful antique items. There were items like English teapots and Russian dolls, all of them covered in a fine layer of dust. There was one item in particular which was tugged away in the far corner, a beautiful vase with fish design on it.
Damon called Leanne upstairs to show her his discovery. They both got busy browsing through the beautiful collection of antiques. Leanne wondered why their parents had all of this packed away in the attic. Leanne took a rag and began cleaning the items. The fish vase caught Leanne's eyes too. The vase was sixteen inches tall, shaped like a gourd. She took her rag and wiped off the thin layer of dust from it. The clean vase took the siblings by surprise.
The vase was beautifully decorated. The top and bottom sections were yellow and covered with elegant, flowery patters. The middle part was made up of intricate blue lattice. On the front of the vase was a circular plate portraying two goldfishes swimming in water. The base was blue, with some Chinese script in the center. The siblings couldn't make sense of the markings, and they didn't know anything about the antique's origin either, but even their non-expert eyes could see that this was vase was not ordinary.
Damon and Leanne had a big decision to make. They began discussing what was to be done with the antique collection. They surely didn't want to throw any of them away but taking them back home was not possible either, neither of them had enough space to store them. Besides, it would be shameful to put them in a storage space locked away. They deserved to be displayed in all their elegance and glory. They decided they would both keep a few small items and try to sell off the rest.
The siblings began researching how to go about selling these antiques and learned that the best way will be through an Auction. An auction house will take these items and provide Damon and Leanne with an approximate value. Later on, they will sell the items to a room full of antique collectors who will bid against each other and the highest bid will take the item.
The advantage of selling at an auction is that the bidders can drive up the price of an antique. However, there is also a risk associated with it, which is that in case there are not enough people who show up at the auction, the items will be sold for much less than they are worth. Leanne knew they had to take that risk because it was the right thing to do, selling them to an antique collector is the fair decision.
After researching for quite some time, Leanne and Damon finally decided to go with Bainbridges Auctions. They had more than forty years of experience and have held more than 9 sales each year for antiques, collectibles, wines, etc. Their consultants help in valuing the items before the sale to establish an estimate.
After finalizing their choice about the auction house, Leanne met with an employee of Bainbridges Auction who recorded the items and placed them into storage. He informed Leanne that she would receive a certain percentage of the profit once the items were sold. That evening she drove home, happy and proud of herself for completing the difficult task she was dreading for weeks.
It had been a few days since the antiques were placed in Bainbridges' storage. A valuation consultant was going to inspect the newly arrived stock. He was impressed by the beautiful collection antiques dropped off by Leanne. He was busy inspecting the items one by one for the next few hours.
It had been a few hours since the valuation consultant had begun his inspection of the items. When he was down to the last two items, he spotted the vase and almost dropped his clipboard in surprise. As an expert in antique, it was difficult for his eyes to believe what he was looking at.
The consultant put on a pair of latex gloves and picked up the vase very carefully for a closer inspection. He appreciated the craftsmanship of the antique but what he was interested in was checking the base of the vase. He turned the vase upside down and what he saw made his face break into a huge smile.
It was a Monday morning and Leanne was at work when she received a phone call from Bainbridges. She figured they might have sold the antiques already. But the representative was calling to invite her to the Auction. He mentioned she had given them something exceptional and she would want to be present when they sell the item.
His statement puzzled Leanne. All she knew about the vase was that her father purchased it in the 1930s. She didn't know how much it had costed him but he was not a wealthy man so it wouldn't have been a lot of money. Curiosity got the better of her. She decided she will attend the auction. Leanne noted down the date and address and hung up the phone.
The day of the auction was finally here. Leanne was too nervous to drive so she was sitting in the front seat with Damon on the wheel. The drive to the venue seemed neverending and Leanne could feel her anxiety kicking in. A part of her was sad about not having their parents' belongings around anymore. Soon they will have to finalize the sale for the house as well. And just like that, her childhood memories will be lost forever.
After what seemed like forever, Damon and Leanne reached the venue of the auction. The room was packed with people, all the seats were filled and the rest were standing at the back of the room and against the walls. At the front center of the room, a man was standing at a podium, with a hammer in his hand. Leanne and Damon managed to find a spot to stand for themselves.
Leanne noticed that at the front of the room two gentlemen were sitting on a sofa. They were dressed in neatly pressed suits, one with a trench coat and hat, the kind you only see on high priced lawyers. They seem to not take notice of anyone in the room and were busy talking to each other. Leanne realized the man with the hat was speaking Chinese. Her thought immediately went to the Chinese script on the vase and wondered if that's what they were here for.
There was a table at the front of the room next to the podium which displayed the antique collection. The man at the podium would pick up an item, show it to the entire room, call out an initial prize, and the people would start their bidding for the particular item. Leanne and Damon watched the people bid against each other for different items. Sometimes the item would be sold at the initial prize itself while some items caused a bidding war between people.
Leanne and Damon were getting nervous because they both knew why they were here. The two gentlemen on the sofa had not made a bid at anything yet. The waiting was making the siblings anxious. When almost all the items were sold, the vase finally made its appearance. On spotting the vase, the two men sat up straight and alert, holding their number cards tightly.
“Qianlong vase, the 1740s,” announced the auctioneer. Leanne and Damon were surprised to find out that the vase was almost 300 years old. “I start the bidding at £10,000…” Every single hand in the room went up, so apparently, everyone in the room wanted the vase. "£15,000" called out the auctioneer. None of the hands went down. The siblings felt like they were in a movie.
“£50,000……£100,000…….£200,000…” The auctioneer kept raising the prize. The audience was going crazy over this item. Nobody was willing to budge. Leanne and Damon saw with astonishment how the room looked like it was on fire. People were calling out to every prize raised by the auctioneer. The auctioneer reached £500,000...One Million Pound... but the bid was neverending, it only kept increasing.
Leanne and Damon had not seen anything like this before. The auctioneer was now at £20 Million and still, at least ten people had their hands raised. £20 Million for a vase they found in an attic. Leanne felt like she was dreaming. None of it could be real. Yet the numbers were still rising, and finally, the number of bidders slowly started to decline.
Now the auctioneer was at £25 million and there were only two people still bidding in the audience, the two gentlemen on the sofa. Leanne realized they were bidding against each other. Every eye in the room was on them as they outbid each other over and over again. The numbers were still rising..30..31..32... nobody could guess who will give up.
The auctioneer was now at £42 Million and only one of them raised his hand. The room waited in anticipation, the man with the hat did not make any movement, Leanne's heart was pounding in her chest. She was thinking if this could be it? Is this vase going to be sold for £42 Million? Just when people thought the duel is over, the man with the hat raised his hand "£43 Million!"
The room was full of gasps and murmurs, nobody could believe what was happening. Only one hand remained in the air now at £43 Million, "Going once...going twice..." all eyes were on the other man waiting for him to make his move. "Sold!", the auctioneer slammed the hammer down with a loud bang. The crowd let out a sigh and began to applaud for the winner.
Leanne ran out of the room, she needed some air. Damon followed her. They didn't know what to say to each other. This was like winning a lottery, only better. And what do you even say when you become the owner of so much money out of the blue. This was more than either one of them could ever spend in one lifetime.
Damon realized that the auction was not over yet, they were selling the full collection in this auction. He decided they should head back inside and watch the rest of the auction. Leanne and Damon got back inside the building, maybe their day wasn't over yet.
Once inside, they saw the buyer shake hands with the auctioneer and walk away with the vase. The people in the crowd were elbowing their way to the front just to catch a glimpse of the vase up close. This sale was the highlight of this auction. Once the excitement died down, the auction continued selling the last few pieces of the antique collection.
To their surprise, the rest of the antique collection was sold for about £65. Turns out the vase was the only rare finding in that collection. Not that they were disappointed, finding this vase was a one in a million chance and they felt overwhelmed by the entire experience.
Leanne and Damon drove home in silence that evening. Their minds were racing inside their heads. Neither of them could have expected this outcome. And to think of it, this million-pounds vase was packed away in their parents' attic all this time. They had no clue about what they were going to do with this money.
The siblings came to find out later that the auction themselves never expected this kind of reaction from the bidders. On finding out about the winning bid, they were just as surprised. The experts knew how valuable the vase was, but the auction had surpassed their expectations. They had never had this kind of a sale before.
Bainbridges had estimated the value of the vase between £800,000 and £1.2 million, which would have been a surprise in itself for Damon and Leanne. But the winning bid was almost 40 times higher than the estimate. This was a new record for Bainbridges Auctions, before this sale the most expensive sale they ever made was for £5000 for an antique thimble.
An employee of Bainbridges mentioned that they had been receiving queries about the vase before the auction had even begun. People were coming from all over the world to try and win this magnificent piece or even catch a glimpse of it.
The man in the hat was a Chinese national who made a bid of £43 million and ended up paying £8.6 million more for taxes and auctioneering cost. This anonymous buyer was thought to be a collector from Beijing. However, he refused to comment after the auction was over.
Leanne and Damon's family heirloom was the most expensive piece of antique sold at the auction. This ended up becoming a world record for the most expensive piece of Chinese pottery to ever be sold. Before this sale, the record had been held by a Qing dynasty vase which was sold by Sotheby’s for 16 million Euros. Coincidentally, that vase was found in an attic too.
Leanne and Damon were curious to know about the history of this million pounds vase. The story was as intriguing as its appearance. The mark at the base of that vase was the mark of the Qianlong emperor who ruled China for more than fifty years.
Qianlong was the sixth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China. It is said that the Qing Empire reached its most glorious and flourishing era, with its large population and rich economy. The vase was created in the royal furnaces and would have been displayed in his palace. The Chinese ceramics manufacturers in the 18th century were known for the perfection of porcelain.
Opium Wars were two wars that took place during the mid 19th century. The first opium war was between China and Britain while the second was between Britain and France against China. The vase was most likely taken away from China in the 1860s, during the second Opium war.
Where the vase went after it was taken from China is unknown, however, there was one incident where the vase made an appearance. Going for a Song was an antiques quiz show broadcasted by the BBC from 1965-1977. In the 1970s, the vase was featured on the show. It was assessed and inspected by an expert, who declared it a very good imitation and valued it at £1300.
According to an article by the Daily Mail, it was revealed that the vase belonged to an elderly man who inherited it from his uncle, an explorer who traveled frequently to the Far East. When the man died it was left as part of his estate to his sister, who was in her seventies. The question of how or where the explorer found it is still not answered.
But the mystery that still lingers to date is that nobody knows how that vase ended up, of all places, in a box in an attic in a suburban home, in Greater London. This is perhaps the most interesting yet undiscovered twist of the whole story. Unfortunately, this mystery has not been solved yet and as the auctioneer said: “The vase is a masterpiece. If only it could talk.”
Collecting antiques is a passion shared by many people. Some may be casual collectors while some are actual dealers who are in serious business. No matter how modern this world might get, the admiration and passion for these pieces fail to diminish. It is difficult to say what people love precisely about antiques, the historical significance, the mystery or just the plain beauty of it. It is hard to tell.
There have been no further reports about where the vase is displayed or kept by the anonymous buyer. There is no news from the siblings either, about what they decided to do with the massive sum of money. According to the auctioneer, neither of them was expecting it to get this big until the moment the hammer went down. And to think of it, they just spotted it in a dusty attic which gives a good impulse to do some cleaning ourselves! You never know what you may find hidden away in the nook and cranny of your house.