The two Fabergé botanical studies sold by Hansons for a combined £340,000.
“It was totally unexpected – as the best finds always are,” Derbyshire auctioneer Charles Hanson told ATG. “A client came along to our office in East Molesey carrying a cardboard box. Inside, wrapped in an old tea towel, was not one, but two, Fabergé flowers.”
Although the firm has sold a handful of more expensive Chinese objects, including a £650,000 Qianlong blue and white vase in 2016, Hanson described the discovery of two of the celebrated botanical studies c.1907-10 as his “most significant find ever”.