"On 23 October, the Paris court of appeal ordered the gallery to repay €2.8m to the collector because of "serious doubts" about the 18th-century dating of the gilded bronze mounts of the porcelain vase. According to investigators, the vase was sold for €815 in Brazil 20 years ago. It then passed through a Paris flea market and three antique dealers before being purchased by Laurent Kraemer for €180,000."
"Evain concluded it was "highly improbable" that the bronzes dated from the time of Louis XVI, stating he had not "found any examples of a similar mounted vase" from that period. The expert also noted the object's unusual height (108cm), the high level of lead in the alloy and the stylistic details, and that the gilding had been "altered" in a recent restoration. He suggested the vase may have been made around the 1840s."
A French court cancelled the sale of a Chinese porcelain vase after eight years of litigation and ordered Galerie Kraemer to repay €2.8m because of serious doubts about the 18th-century dating of its gilded bronze mounts. Investigators trace the object from a €815 sale in Brazil to a Paris flea market, three antique dealers and then Laurent Kraemer, who bought it for €180,000. Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani purchased the vase in 2012 and later commissioned expert analysis. Experts identified inconsistencies: unusual height (108cm), high lead content, altered gilding and stylistic features suggesting a mid-19th-century creation or English revival mounting.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]