15th century Vietnam pottery fetches $455,000 at French auction

The jar, 33.6 centimeters high, is painted with blue peonies and Buddhist iconography. 

According to the auction house, the jar was made with a "powerful form, bold design" and technique of painting with underglaze cobalt blue. 

Expected to fetch around €20,000 ($22,440), the jar was eventually sold for €406,000 ($455,695) earlier this week.

The ancient jar was made in the 15th century. Photo courtesy of Christie's.

It was in the personal collection of J.E. Hagen, working in the Dutch colonial civil service in eastern India in the 20th century. He was gifted the jar in 1947 by a daughter of the Aroe Matoa XLIV, chief prince of the kingdom of Wajo in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The U.K.-owned Christie's has sold a number of artworks from Vietnam, including a painting by Mai Trung Thu titled "Nu" (Nude) in Hong Kong and Le Pho’s "Nue" (Nude), which fetched $1.4 million last year, the highest price ever for a Vietnamese painting.