Teapot worth £100,000 belonging to an emperor found dusting in UK garage

Amid the coronavirus lockdown, a man in the UK found a rare antique teapot that he didn’t realize was worth thousands of pounds. He found the imperial Chinese wine ewer dusting up in a Midlands garage which he initially thought was an old object for charity. However, according to the Hanson Auctions UK, the rare Beijing-enamelled object that only ‘resembled’ a teapot costs £100,000. 

Owner of Hansons Auctioneers, UK, Charles Hanson said in a press release that the tiny 15cm object brought to him by the man is due to be sold on September 24. It is will initially be priced at an estimate of £20,000-£40,000 but such is the demand for imperial works of art from wealthy Chinese buyers that the bidding will shoot up to £100,000. Turns out, the rare teapot dates back to the Qianlong period (1735-99), and belonged to Emperor Qianlong. The 51-year-old man rediscovered the treasure at his Derbyshire home, and brought it to Etwall Auction Centre, near Derby for evaluation. 

Emperor Qianlong's teapot

“This has to be the best lockdown find ever. It is such an exciting discovery, an imperial 18th-century wine ewer which would have graced a palace in China and was, perhaps, handled by Emperor Qianlong, considered by some to be the greatest Chinese Emperor,” Hansons said in the release. He added, “Two almost identical teapots, both with Qianlong reign marks, exist in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, and the Palace Museum in Beijing, China.” Hansons called the find “astonishing”, adding, that the wine ewer was used by the emperor in the Derbyshire home. As per auctioneers’ evaluation, it was the object used to serve warm wine during important ceremonies.

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[Edward Rycroft with the lockdown find. Credit: Hansons Website]

The teapot remained in the family for ages, Edward Rycroft said. "My mum used to display it in a cabinet. We believe it was brought back to England from China by my grandfather who was stationed in the Far East during the Second World War and was awarded a Burma Star medal,” he added.

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The man informed the Hancocks that the teapot ended up in a loft in Newhall and was later somehow boxed up and dispatched to a relative’s garage in Church Gresley. He has since thought of giving it away in the charity. “But then lockdown came along and I finally had time to go through the boxes,” the excited man added. The wine ewer, which has a rectangular form, is brightly decorated on a lemon-yellow ground and features colourful blooming peonies in hues of pinks, blues, and purples.

[Family photos relating to the vendor's grandfather who served in the Far East during WW2. Credit: Hansons Website]

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