Most expensive vase

The most expensive vase – and the most expensive piece of porcelain – is a 16-in-tall (40.64-cm) 18th-century vase from China's Qianlong period that was bought for at least £20 million ($31.5 million) in January 2013. The sale was made to an anonymous buyer brokered through Bonhams in Hong Kong.

Emperor Qianlong reigned from 1735 to 1796, and was a renowned patron of Chinese arts. The yellow and blue ovoid vase features four enamel cartouches depicting fish and flowers and bears an imperial seal. It was likely commissioned for one of the emperor's palaces and fired at the imperial potteries in Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province. It had been handed down through a British family from an uncle who had picked it up in China

The vase originally sold via the auction house Bainbridges of Riuslip in Middlesex, UK, in November 2010 for £43 million ($68.9 million) to an anonymous telephone bidder. However, when asked to cover the cost of the auction house's premium – which totalled £8.6 million ($13.7 million) – the buyer refused to complete the sale. After two years of negotiation with the winning bidder, Bainbridges released the vase to Bonhams, who finally brokered the sale to an anonymous buyer.