17th-century Chinese incense burner sells for $4.9M




"When they saw the bowl, they were amazed. They'd never seen anything quite like it," Karl Green, head of media relations and marketing for Koller Auctions, told CNN.


A British auction house also declined the item after seeing photos of it, assuming it to be 19th century.


"After all that, (the family) thought it wasn't worth a lot, but they liked it. They displayed it. As you do with a bowl in your house, they put things in it, and they put tennis balls in it," Green said.

However, after being acquired by Koller Auctions, the incense burner caused a sensation when it was exhibited at an antiques fair in Hong Kong. It caused "intense telephone" and saleroom bidding at auction, with 30 bidders vying to get their hands on the piece.

"(Koller Auctions' experts) think because of the peonies and the phoenix decoration and because of the quality, it was probably made for Chinese emperors," Green added.

"When you compare to other incense burners or other bronze objects of this size and date, it went far above what anything else has made, worldwide."

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