Sotheby's carried out a 378 lot auction of Asian Art over two days this past weekend.

The starring lot was a Ming dynasty vase, white with blue decoration, in a flask shape. Dating from the time of the Yongle Emperor (1402-1424), the porcelain is carefully decorated with different shades of cobalt oxide to help create the colour patterns.

It had been in a private French collection for six decades.

The piece had been expected to be the biggest sale of the auction, with an expected sale price of €200,000-300,000. However, bidders completely ignored this and competed furiously for the vase, and the lot only left the stage for a stunning €1,744,750.

Asian art has become hot property at auction in recent years, especially Chinese art. For example, two months ago, a pair of porcelain parrots sold for 250 times their estimate.

If you missed our newsletter on China's influence on collectibles, see it here.