The Priceless Ming Jar Used as an Umbrella Stand | Christie's

This magnificent and very rare large blue and white ‘Dragon’ jar was once used as an umbrella stand.

After a team of Christie's specialists looked at the jar, they realised they were handling an incredibly important piece of Chinese porcelain from the Ming Dynasty.

In this video, Chi Fan Tsang, a specialist in Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, discusses the details that make this piece so special, including the significance of the five-clawed dragon, and the cross mark on the base of the vessel.

The dragon jar sold in 2016 for HK$158,040,000 / $20,447,642 as part of the '30 Years: The Sale' auction on 30 May in Hong Kong.

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[joshb]

And the owner never saw her umbrella stand again.

[toast]

“That’s a nice umbrella stand”

“ThAnks it’s 8th century”

[Nicoth]

Waoh, it's absolutely flawless. The "paint" look so fresh and vibrant. Hard to believe that piece has survived in perfect condition for nearly 600 years.

[frankjaeger]

It would be hilarious if the emporer had used it as an umbrella stand as well. Back to its original purpose.

[shaneta]

It sold for $20 million USD. Talk about an expensive umbrella stand.

[Mrmusicdu]

Best I can do is 10$, and I'm taking a huge risk here.

[Kamala--President]

Dying father: I'm going to give my first son my 2 stores, my second son my house, and an umbrella stand for my third son.

[frijoleswithbeanss]

Forget how much it’s worth, let’s appreciate how beautiful the workmanship is

[SpaztallicA]

the title was cut off on my screen so it read "priceless ming jar used as an umbrella" i was wondering how that would

[mcgoomcgoo]

600 years old and not a chip missing??? This is a beautiful piece of creative human hands!!! Stunning and priceless!!!

[matthewhutcheson]

Rick from Pawn Stars said, "I'll give you $30 and I'm taking all the risk here....it's going to sit and take up space in my shop".

[noobmaster]

Soooo....is no one gonna acknowledge that the owner just got her umbrella holder stolen?

[antoniodseccareccia]

"The copyists don't see the base, or what you can't see in the catalogue". They do now.

[BBOYWORLD]

👀 wowww thats like winning the lottery

[Kjca_]

That man busted out that flawless Mandarin/Cantonese like it was absolutely nothing.

[bigmike]

About 12 years ago, I was visiting with a neighboring Farmer.
Like most farm houses, the farmers tend to put nice looking rocks around their homes, barns etc.
Not necessarily because they like the rocks, but because rocks tear up your equipment and are routinely picked from farm fields.
On that particular day, talking about rocks, as I am a major rockhound, I noticed a strange black "rock" near their front door.
I instantly recognized the regmaglypts upon the surface of this fairly large iron/nickel meteorite that had been sitting out by the front door since their great grandfather built the farm house in 1867.
It came out of the field behind their house.
In searching the headlands as rocks are always put there after removal from the fields, we found several others in the five to fifty pound range.

Over the following years, I have found over four hundred more specimens using my metal detector in that field and others along the northwest running strewn field.

The meteorite by their front door sold in the high six figure range.
They still have the other bigger meteorites that were on the headlands.

Treasure is where you find it!

[Nadia]

The quality of the craftsmanship must be amazing if it survived that long as an umbrella holder. The painting is amazing as well, glad they found it before it was too late

[dajkjk]

15th century made in China vs made in China today

[datboibutters]

“This monumental dragon jar comes from a private French family collection. It was passed by descent through the family to the current owner, a distinguished Swiss lady. The jar was in the collection of her grandmother, Mrs. M. Legrand (1883- 1978), who lived most of her life in Paris but was originally from Northern France. Mrs. Legrand had herself inherited the jar in 1926. The jar was passed to Mrs. Legrand’s son (the current owner’s uncle – 1908-1997) and appears in an inventory of 1981. It was inherited by the current owner from her uncle, following the latter’s death in 1997. In the present owner’s home the jar until recently stood in the hall and held walking sticks. For this latter use, the jar was protected by a fitted metal liner, which can clearly be seen in a contemporary photograph.”

[brahnt]

My Ikea umbrella stand: "dont look at me like this"
Me: "you make me sick"