An 18th century Chinese vase, which passed from hand to hand until it was "lost" in a kitchen, has been sold for 1.8 million euros at auction. The auction house, Dreweatts, from England, had valued the rarity at 177,000 euros.

The seller inherited the vase from his father, a surgeon, who bought it in the 1980s for a few hundred pounds. The seller was unaware of its value, and so kept it in the kitchen, where it was detected by an expert.

At 60 cm high, the porcelain vase is adorned with a six-character seal mark, characteristic of the Qianlong dynasty (1736-1795) on its base.

The object was made for the court of the Qianlong Emperor - the sixth emperor of the Qing dynasty - and was said to have been crafted using innovative heating techniques to achieve its blue, gold and silver coloration

The Chinese name for this type of vase is "tianqiuping", which translates as "celestial globe vase" and describes its spherical shape. Dreweatts said that there have been no other documented tianqiuping vases with the same gold and silver designs, making it extremely rare.

In March last year, a 15th century blue and white Chinese bowl, bought at a garage sale for $35, sold for $721,800 at auction.

A few months later, a 16th century Italian plate discovered in a drawer raised over $1.7 million at auction, 10 times its original estimate.