two vases sold at recent auctions, left for US$15M, right for US$32M. both a little story behind

the left was estimated at US$800! yes eight hundred only not eight hundred thousand, because the assessor thought it is a later imitation, maybe 100 years old, not Qing government kiln product, but other experts working on behalf of mainland china collectors thought it authentic; curiously, the original owner thought it is unauthentic and had it around the house as an ordinary vase; whatever the truth, its value has been established by the market

the right was bought by Dr Alice Cheng, who owns an petroleum  trading company Taching with the HK Fok family, after living for many years in UK as a housewife married to a HK immigrant professor who decided to return to HK in 1966; she was from a prominent Shanghai family owning a famous antique business there; after becoming rich from business, she returned to the family business and made several high profile purchases, donating a previous purchased Qing bowl to Shanghai Museum. What made the vase purchase special was it was sold by an antique company owned by her brother - there was some previous dispute between family members over family possessions confiscated during cultural revolution then returned; since auctioning requires considerable expenses compared to a private transaction, either the parties are still not on speaking terms, or they prefer to go through the process in order to establish a market value