Japanese storage box bought for £100 and used as a TV stand sells for £6.3MILLION

-->

That's a real treasure chest! Japanese storage box bought for £100 and used as a TV stand sells for £6.3MILLION

* Victoria and Albert Museum had been searching worldwide for it since 1941
* The Japanese antique had been expected to sell for £200,000


A wooden chest that was bought for £100 and used as a TV stand has sold for £6.3million after it was revealed to be a rare Japanese antique.

The 5ft long box was snapped up in a private sale in 1970 by the late owner for the small sum, which is the equivalent £1,300 today.

Not realising its true value, the unnamed man used it for years as a TV stand and drinks cabinet at his home.

Continue Reading..




But experts were left stunned after it recently surfaced during a clearance of his house following his death.

The container, made of cedar wood and gold lacquer, was identified as a lost Japanese chest dating back to 1640.

So coveted was the box that London's Victoria and Albert Museum had been searching worldwide for it since 1941, the last recording of it.

Amazingly, the chest - one of only 10 in the world - sat undetected at a house in South Kensington, less than a mile from the museum, until 1986 when its owner moved.

It has now been snapped up at auction by Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum for a whopping £6.3million - far higher than the estimate of £200,000.

The late owner's children, now aged in their 50s, were made overnight millionaires following the sale of the Japanese chest.
Like their father, they had no clue as to the value of the chest, which they used to call 'daddy's bar' because he used it as his drinks' cabinet.

Auctioneer Aymeric Rouillac based in Tours, France, said: 'When their father died, the family invited us to round to value the contents of his small house in the Loire Valley.

'The only thing of worth seemed to be a Flemmish clock - it was nice but only worth a few thousand pounds.

'While my father Philippe, who is also an auctioneer, was offered a sherry, the daughter went over to what appeared to be a big box in the corner of the room with a TV on it and a throw covering it.

'After lifting the TV off the box, she removed the throw and opened up the box which was full of bottles of alcohol.

'He couldn't believe what we he was seeing - a beautiful gold lacquered Japanese chest.

'He asked the daughter what it was, and she replied "it is daddy's bar".

'She told him how she and her brother used to hide inside it when they were children.

'I was in Paris at the time and my father called me to tell me he had found something interesting.

'I did a quick search on the internet and found a photograph of a similar chest on the V&A website saying it was the most sought-after Japanese chest in the world.

'I emailed it to my father as a joke, and he called back straight away and said "that's the chest!"

'We spent three months researching the chest, unravelling its incredible story.

'We knew it was special when we received an offer of £2million from the Getty Museum in Los Angeles a few weeks before the auction.

'We decided to let the auction run its course and it was eventually bought by the Rijksmuseum.

'The family were absolutely delighted. They still cannot believe that "daddy's bar" was worth so much.'

The intricate chest is decorated inside and out with gold lacquer depicting Japanese myths including the Tale of Genji.

It was made in 1640 in Kyoto by master craftsman Kaomi Nagashige on commission for the Dutch East India Company.

In 1658 it was acquired by Cardinal Jules Mazarin, then the chief minister of France, for his extensive art collection and then passed down through his family.

British poet William Beckford bought it in 1802 and through his daughter Euphemia, wife of the Duke of Hamilton, it was included in the Hamilton Palace sale in 1882.

It was later acquired by prominent collectors Sir Trevor Lawrence and then Welsh colliery owner Sir Clifford Cory - but following Cory's death in 1941 it disappeared off the radar.

Unknown to experts, the chest had been bought by a Polish doctor living in London who, unaware of its origins, sold it to a French engineer for just £100 in 1970.

When the Frenchman retired he moved from England to the Loire Valley in France, taking the chest with him.

The sum paid by the Rijksmuseum is thought to be the second highest ever paid at auction for Japanese art after a 12th century lacquered Buddha sold for £6.7million in 2008.

Menno Fitski, the curator of East Asian art at the Rijksmuseum, said: 'The thing to note about this chest is that it is the best of the best.

'It was the best when it was made and the same still applies today.

'It has an incredible back story which makes it all the more special.

'After being owned by some of the most prominent collectors in history, in 1970 the chest was bought privately by a French engineer living in London for about £100.

'That has to have been the bargain of the century.

'When the French engineer retired he moved back home to France and he took the chest with him and, thinking it to be of little value, used it as a TV stand.

'He also kept his drinks collection inside the chest.

'Amazingly it only surfaced when the owner died and his family were having a clear-out.

'The quality is the highest and the level of detail is incredible.

'There was a real feeling at the auction that this piece belonged at our museum.

'Yes, it was a lot of money, but you have to pay for quality and it is worth every penny.

'To be able to add such a significant item to our collection is a real honour.'