This Is A Sort Of 'Good Luck' Story,

if you see what I mean,

this vase made for the Chinese Emperor Qianlong has just been sold for £50,000 when it was sold at Duke's Auctioneers of Dorchester, Dorset, that is the good news, the bad news is that the previous owner drilled a hole in the bottom of the vase which may have obscured an Imperial reign mark, which would have dramatically affected the value of the vase,


Guy Schwinge, a partner at Duke's, added: 'the irony is that if the vase had not been drilled and turned into a lamp base, it could easily have fetched £100,000, if the Imperial reign mark was still intact, the vase would have sold for more than £500,000'

a former owner of the antique even customised it with fittings and a garish lampshade, giving it pride of place in his hallway, but still at least the present owner has received £50,000 for an inherited lamp base.