Chinese Imperial jade elephants may stack up to $3 million

5 May 2010

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A pair of Chinese Imperial jade elephants. Photo: Woolley & Wallis via Bloomberg

Chinese collectors are expected to bid as much as 2 million pounds ($3.03 million) for a pair of 18th-century green jade elephants which originally adorned a throne room of the Emperor Qianlong.

The pair is being offered by the British auction house Woolley & Wallis on May 19 with an estimate of 200,000 pounds. They come from the collection of Mary Anna Marten, a trustee of the British Museum, who was based at Crichel House in Dorset and died in January

If the 7-inch long elephants retained their original saddles surmounted by vases, they might have been valued at 10 million pounds.

Read more at Bloomberg

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