6:01PM, Tue Sep 11, 2012

Angels Vase Sells For Record Breaking Sum At Auction In Newcastle

By Hugh Macknight Location: Newcastle

A rare vase found in a north east house has sold for a record breaking sum at auction.

The unusual Lalique vase, decorated with soaring angels, was sold for £280,000 to a private collector in the USA by Newcastle auctioneers Anderson and Garland.

The fee is the largest received for a work of art sold at auction in the north east.

Entitled ‘Deux Figures Femmes Aillee’ the rare cire perdue vase was one of just four produced in 1922.

Discovered packed away in a box during a routine probate valuation at a house in Morpeth, it had been used as a flower vase.

Cire perdue is another name for lost-wax casting, a drawn-out andpainstaking process that results in completely unique, one-off pieces of art.

A French glass designer, Rene Lalique became famous in the first part of the twentieth century for the Art Deco style of his ornaments and jewellery.

Julian Thomson, director at Anderson and Garland, said: "When I saw the vase, it immediately caught my eye and after consulting our ceramics expert Steven Moore, it soon become apparent that this was quite a special find – the vase is just one of four and is a limited edition.

"Although it was originally valued at £30,000, we had experienced a lot of interest in the piece so believed the figure could end upsignificantly higher depending on activity on the day.

"As it happened,bidding quickly moved from £10,000 to £100,000, finishing at £280,000. It’s a fantastic result and great for the North East for the vase to have been sold here."

Prior to the sale of the Lalique, the most expensive work of art eversold in the region was an Imperial Kangxi celadon water pot that went for £270,000 also at an auction by Anderson and Garland.