Tiny vase bought for £2.50 in charity shop could fetch £10k at Canterbury Auction Galleries sale

A small vintage ceramic vase bought for just £2.50 is set to fetch up to £10,000 at auction after it was deemed a rare Japanese work by a samurai.

The vase, which is just four inches tall, is a 19th-century artwork by Namikawa Yasuyuki - one of the most famous cloisonné artists of the 1890 to 1910 period - a technique involving soldering delicate wire to a metal surface to create an outline.

The ornament was discovered in Surrey, by an unnamed couple, who had “wandered into a charity shop to have a look around”.

After buying it, the couple lifted the vase up and saw some marks which made them think it was worth more than they had paid for it. They then contacted Canterbury Auction Galleries, in Kent, for an option, which is where it was discovered to be a masterpiece.

They plan on making a large donation to the charity shop and taking a holiday after the auction.

The anonymous shopper said: “My partner and I wandered into the charity shop to have a look around – I always head for the books and he heads off to look for art and vintage stuff.

“He’s not an expert but he does have great taste and an instinct for the ‘real thing’.

“He came over and showed me the vase and I said something a bit dismissive like ‘very pretty’. He then showed me the etched marks on the base.

“When he found out it was by Namikawa Yasuyuki he was all a-quiver!"

A larger vase made by Yasuyuki sold for $38,000 at Canterbury in April 2019, the house said. The thrift shop discovery will go up for auction during a two-day sale starting 29 July, with an estimate of £7,000 to £9,000.

“The beautiful work by Yasuyuki’s Kyoto studio is held in several collections and is highly sought-after,” said specialist Cliona Kilroy, co-director of Canterbury Auction Galleries. “He and Namikawa Sōsuke were the most famous cloisonné artists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries—the ‘Golden Age’ of enamelling in Japan.”