Famously Celebrated Antique Discoveries

What is valued within the world of antiques is often as unique and different as the person who owns the item. For some, monetary gain does not matter—sentimentality, character, history—the stories of the lives of those who made their mark on these pieces are precious above all else.

Yet, on occasion, in the world of antiques, some discoveries are stunning and rare and deserve their spotlight. Here are a few spectacular findings that we think you might love. 

Masterpieces Returned

As long as art has existed, natural disasters, time, war, theft, politics, and more have long threatened its creation and the artists' survival. Countless masterpieces have been lost over millennia, while many others may remain hidden in basements, thrift stores, or attics.

In 2023, one of the more shocking headlines related to art was the return of a Vincent van Gogh painting once stolen from a Dutch Museum in 2020. Worth millions, it was returned by an anonymous tipster to Arthur Brand's apartment, wrapped in bubble wrap, and placed in a blue IKEA bag. Arthur Brand, sometimes nicknamed the "Indiana Jones of the art world," is a world-renowned art detective.

He announced the return of The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring, and the 1884 canvas was estimated to be valued between $3.2 million and $6.4 million.

Just a Dusty Vase

It appeared to be an old, dusty, forgotten Chinese vase tucked away and forgotten for years when a woman found it, cleaning out her late sister's modest suburban home in London.

When the intricately painted 18th-Century piece went up on the block at Bainbridges, a modest suburban auction house—no one expected the vase to be sold for 40 times its estimated price. A Chinese buyer purchased the vase for $83 million, shocking the auctioneer, Peter Bainbridge, and fulfilling a dream many never see become a reality for the family who owned the vase.

The family who sold the vase wishes to remain anonymous but did share that they are the sister and nephew of the deceased woman who originally owned the vase somewhere in West London, Pinner. The vase had been in the family since the 1930s, though they do not know how it came to be in their possession.

Many Chinese artifacts surfaced in Britain in the 19th Century due to the unfortunate looting of Beijing's Summer Palace when it was sacked by British and French troops at the end of the Second Opium War in 1860.

The vase dates back to the Qing dynasty when Chinese porcelain creation was at its height. The vase was extraordinary because it bore the Imperial seal, indicating that it was once part of Emperor Qianlong's collection.

Possibly The World's Most Expensive Cabinet

A cabinet commissioned by Henry Somerset, the 3rd Duke of Beaufort, with their family seat at Badminton in the southwest of England, was sold in 2004 at Christie's of London for £19,045,250, or $36,662,106, making this possibly the most expensive work of furniture art in the world.

The cabinet is constructed from ebony and gilt-bronze, with pieces of lapis lazuli, agate, red and green Sicilian jasper, chalcedony and amethyst, and several other highly polished rocks. The Badminton Cabinet was made at the Grand Ducal workshops, Ufficio delle pietre dure, in Florence from 1720 until 1732 and remained in Badminton until 1990 when it was sold to Barbara Piasecka Johnson (Part of the Johnson company famous for their baby powder). When it was sold again in 2004, it was purchased by the Director of the Liechtenstien Museum in Vienna on behalf of Prinz Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstien, where it went on permanent display in 2005.

Of its exquisite details inlaid with precious stones, only three of its caliber are known. The Badminton Cabinet became the 17th most expensive item conveyed at an auction.

The Olyphant Battle Horn

Very few artifacts from the 11th Century remain. The Olyphant Battle Horn from the 11th Century is a large 'oliphant' (elephant) tusk carved with hunting motifs featuring various animals, including rabbits, ducks, deer, and elephants. Only six other battle horns carved from an elephant's tusk remain as functional and undamaged as The Battle Horn.

A private auction in Scandinavia, The Olyphant Battle Horn, was sold for $16.1 million. Few details, other than photos and estimated age, can be found on the Olyphant Battle Horn, but other such horns can be viewed at various museums, such as The Horn of Ulf, another 11th-Century artifact that is in the York Miniter's Treasury.

The Dragons Armchair

Created sometime between 1917 and 1919, an armchair that resembled two dragons encircling a petal-opening flower-shaped leather seat was sold to a collector for $28,342,909.

Designed by Eileen Gray, an Irish-born designer, she is a lesser-known artist except in very niche circles. Eileen studied the Asian tradition of lacquering furniture, opening a lacquer workshop in Paris with Japanese lacquer specialist Seizo Sugawara. Though lacquered wood was often seen as an antique restoration technique, Gray and Seizo created modern designs utilizing this traditional method.

Her breakthrough came in the form of a commission in 1917 by a society hostess, Madame Juliette Mathieu-Levy, who hired Eileen to decorate her 16th arrondissement apartment in Paris. The apartment was featured in a 1920 edition of Harper's Bazaar. Along with several of her now best-known works, such as the Bibendum chair inspired by the Michelin Man, the Dragon's Armchair was also part of the design.

In Chinese culture, the dragon is the highest-ranking creature, associated with the emperor, good fortune, and power. In Japanese culture, they are revered as benefactors and protectors of humanity, powerful and wise guardians that shield us from universal dangers. The two arms of the chair are stylized dragons in wood lacquer, while the seat itself is created from leather and resembles a flower with petals opening.

These are not the only antiques that fetch extraordinary prices, but they represent a fraction of human craftsmanship's rich and diverse history. The value of these objects incorporates more than their historical roots, but the stories they tell and the legacies they carry—from Viking warhorns to exceptional artistry in home décor.