The form is known as a tianqiuping, which translates as ‘heavenly globe vase’ and holds special significance in Chinese iconography, where the world is represented by a square and heaven by a circle.
This imposing piece, with a six-character Qianlong mark and deemed of the period, came from a deceased estate where it had been for many years. The vase was not in good condition.
The many photographs of the piece uploaded online showed it had been broken in several places to the neck and reglued. However, Halstead found a similar tianqiuping in much better condition sold in June 2012 at Poly in Beijing for around £1.3m.
Lazarus Halstead, specialist at Chiswick Auctions, alongside a Qianlong mark and period vase sold at £370,000.
This discovery generated lots of interest at its £10,000 low estimate and is now heading back to China.
The hammer price of £370,000 (£462,500 including premium) on November 18 is a house record for Chiswick, beating the £225,000 bid for a handscroll by Xu Naigu sold in November 2017.
