A rare Chinese vase dating from the 18th century has sold for nearly £1.5 million ($1.8 million) at auction. The gilded blue artifact ... two feet in height, the porcelain vase is embellished ...

Photo courtesy of Dreweatts When Mark Newstead first saw the blue-and-gold porcelain vase sitting in his friend ... and shape of the vessel, the Asian ceramics and artworks consultant for ...

according to The Guardian — and they all battled it out over the blue-and-white Tianqiuping-style porcelain vase. According to Laborde, the winner — a Chinese buyer who has not been identified ...

Painted sky blue and imperial yellow and adorned with medallions depicting leaping goldfish, the 16-inch vase dates from the Qing dynasty, a time when Chinese porcelain-making was at its pinnacle.

Originally expected to fetch between 1,500 and 2,000 euros ($1,470-$1,960), the Tianqiuping-style porcelain vase sold ... artifact on its hands. The blue-and-white vase measures 21 x 16 inches ...

On the auction house Osenat's website, it was described as a "porcelain and polychrome enamel vase in the style of the blue-white with globular body and long cylindrical neck, decorated with nine ...