The gold bowl of Emperor Khai Dinh (1885-1925) has been sold for 680,000 euros (US$676,000) at auction by Million in Paris. Photo courtesy of the auction house.

The price is 27 times higher than the estimated value of 15,000 euros set by the French auction house.

According to the auction house, the bowl is 7cm tall and weighs 456.6g with an image of a dragon.

It has a brown colour, covered with a layer of glass. It has a crack and used to belong to the collection of a doctor who used to work in Thừa Thiên Huế Province in the 20th century.

Antique researcher Trần Đình Sơn said it was a royal utensil used to display daffodils during the Tết (Lunar New Year) Festival at An Định Palace.

The golden bowl is part of the Vietnam Art Sales in Paris on October 31 when 329 other artefacts also went under the hammer, the most prominent of which is the golden seal made in 1823 during Emperor Minh Mạng's reign (1820-1841). However, the French auction house decided to postpone the auction at the last minute to November 10 “due to the strong interest of the Vietnamese State”.

Among the artefacts sold at the session, the Nguyễn dynasty golden bowl reached the highest price, and the lowest was lot 32, a set of Huế blue porcelain, priced at 100 euros (about $99).

Millon Auction House was established in 1928. Its headquarters is in Paris and other branches are located in other major cities around the world such as Nice (France) or Brussels (Belgium).

Source: VNS