It was a dream come true for retired solicitor Anthony Johnson and his elderly mother when they found an antique Chinese vase in a house clearance and sold it for an astonishing £53million.
But four months after the auction which made headlines worldwide, there is speculation that the Johnsons may have found themselves at the centre of an elaborate Chinese government protest against the sale of treasures looted from their country.
The Johnsons have not yet received a penny and are planning to put the 1740 Qing dynasty vase back under the hammer.
Sold: The antique vase could soon be going back under the hammer after the Johnsons failed to receive a penny
There is a strong suspicion that they may be the latest victims of a plot by the Chinese government to sabotage auctions involving antiques once stolen from its country by sending bidders to buy the artefact but then failing to stump up the money.
The small auction house in Ruislip, West London, which sold the vase has been in contact with an agent thought to represent the buyer to demand that the money is paid in full by Friday.
According to a source, the agent, known as Mr Sun, has refused to reveal the identity of the buyer even to Bainbridge’s auctioneers. However, the owner of the auction house, Peter Bainbridge, has denied this.
Big news: How the sale made the headlines last year
In 2002 the Chinese government set up the Lost Cultural Relics Recovery Program to reclaim artefacts taken by foreigners over the centuries. In some cases, they buy back the antiques.
However, there have been other cases in which auctions have been sabotaged by agents with links to the Chinese government who win the bidding, then fail to deliver the money, believing they should not have to pay for what is rightfully their property.
In 2009, when Christie’s in Paris sold bronze animal heads looted from the Summer Palace in 1860, a Chinese buyer – an adviser to a government heritage organisation – made a winning bid of £13 million but later said he would not pay as ‘an act of patriotism’.
Sabotage? Auctioneer Peter Bainbridge, pictured, has denied that the agent has refused to reveal the buyer's identity
An antiques source said payment for the Qing vase should have been made by February 9.
‘There is speculation the auction could have been sabotaged by the Chinese. The sellers have been assured the money will arrive by the end of the week but they are thinking about the next move should it fail to do so.’
Mr Johnson, 54, and his mother Gene, 85, inherited the 16in porcelain vase from her sister, Patricia Newman, in January 2010. It had belonged to Mrs Newman’s husband Bill and was said to have been brought back from China by an ‘adventurer uncle’ of his.
Plot? The Chinese Cultural Relics Protection Fund would not say if it had been involved in bidding at the auction
It is believed to have been stolen when China’s imperial palaces were ransacked by British troops in the 19th Century Opium Wars.
The Chinese Cultural Relics Protection Fund would not say if it had been involved in bidding at the auction.
Asked about possible sabotage, Mr Bainbridge said: ‘I can tell you that is categorically wrong. I know everything about the deal. I know who the buyer is.’
Mr Johnson refused to comment.