A few days have passed but Olivier Valmier perfectly remembers the emotion of the visitors who handled the object during the exhibition preceding the sale. A Chinese porcelain object discovered by the auctioneer in an apartment near Cergy-Pontoise and priced at 80,000 euros was finally sold for 425,700 euros at the Drouot hotel in Paris. It was a rich Chinese who purchased it. A dozen individuals from the Middle Kingdom had paid the deposit to be able to bid.
A new chapter therefore opens for this small porcelain known as “yangcai”, the rarest of techniques, a precious object from the 18th century used to contain water to dilute ink at the imperial court of China. Having been forgotten for years, this treasure was found by chance by Olivier Valmier on a shelf, hidden by a thermometer, while the professional was working on a collection of ancient art. With a height of 18.5 cm, the object notably includes a central cylinder which rotates on itself and causes a procession of seven Europeans carrying gifts to the Emperor of China to parade.
The upper part slightly damaged
The bids could have even been higher, if the upper part had not been somewhat damaged due to the lacquer placed inside in the 19th century to block the cylinder and prevent it from being broken.
But it doesn't matter for Olivier Valmier, former specialist in the Asian arts department at Sotheby's for six years, between Paris, London and Hong Kong. “The most extraordinary thing is to find extremely rare objects that have been forgotten,” relishes the enthusiast. It's a superb experience. There, it tells the whole history of China and the Orient. In the 18th century, the emperor of China was the most powerful man in the world. He was a genius, an immense calligrapher and immense poet. »
This is not the professional's first attempt. In 2018, he found in an orthopedic shoe box forgotten in an attic a Chinese vase from the same period which ultimately sold for 16.2 million euros.
