The Mercedes 540K toy sold for £1,200, while the CHinese vase went for £20,000. Pictures: GTH

Mystery vase shocks vendors with £20,000 sale at Somerset auction

Paul JonesSeptember 4, 20250 Comment0

A MYSTERY vase – with a crack in its neck – ended up selling for £20,000 at a Somerset auction.

A couple from mid Devon took the blue and white container for a valuation at Greenslade Taylor Hunt (GTH), who identified it as a Chinese piece with Jiaqing six-character seal mark and extensive floral and foliate decoration.

The lot prompted a lot of pre-sale attention, and on sale day itself the reach of the GTH sale came through – as a phone bidder tussled with internet interest to secure the vase.

“It is tempting to assume that all salerooms are essentially the same but, in reality, that’s not the case,” said Peter Rixon, an associate at GTH, who co-ordinated the sale.

“We have the expertise to identify and properly describe items of potential, a range of dedicated, specialist sales in which to offer them, and the ability to market lots effectively to a targeted, global audience, all of which frequently adds value for our vendors.”

The same vendor was also thrilled when another lot – a French brass gorge carriage clock – was bought for £2,200.

The wide-ranging sale of selected antiques and collectors’ items, held at the Somerset Salerooms near Bridgwater, featured a vast array of all things collectable, painstakingly catalogued and described.

Elsewhere on the agenda, a single-owner collection of Great War embroidered silk postcards sold for almost £3,000.

Other prices of note included £1,200 for a Tipp & Co tinplate Mercedes 540K Autobahn-Kurier from the late 1930s, finished in red with a cream roof and fitted with a smart seated chauffeur figure, while two Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes medals sold for £520.

A childhood Pippa collection comprising 11 dolls; a quantity of clothing; a boxed Pippa’s Pony and a quantity of furniture and accessories went for £450.

And a number of sovereigns each sold well after strong competitive bidding and a Willcox & Gibbs sewing machine made £420.

The next sale is set to take place on Wednesday, October 29, at the Somerset Salerooms, Junction 24, North Petherton.

For more information about upcoming auctions, or to arrange a valuation, contact the GTH antiques team on 01278 410250.