A pair of rare Chinese famille rose vases from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) sold for $16.8 million at Christie's auction house in London on Tuesday, making it one of the top 10 most-expensive Chinese ceramics lots sold at auction.

"The buyer of the vases wishes to remain anonymous," said Katy Griffiths, communications officer at Christie's London.

The telephone bidder will pay $19.1 million, once commission and taxes are added, which is more than seven times the auction house's initial estimate. It predicted they might sell for $2.6 million.

People with deep pockets holding special red cards were the only ones allowed to bid for the vases. Sources said they each had to put up a $1.3 million refundable deposit before the auction began.

The jaw-dropping sale was the second-highest for a Chinese work of art sold at Christie's in London.

The vases, made in the 18th century for the court of the Qianlong Emperor (1711-99), were purchased in the early 1930s by an English buyer who passed them on to the current owner who "had no idea that she had such amazingly important pieces in her collection", said Rosemary Scott, a Chinese ceramics specialist at Christie's.

It was the first time a pair of such Qianlong vases had been offered. Only four other single vases of a similar type have been sold at auction to date. The vases are elaborately decorated with butterflies partially hidden and partially visible among flowers glazed with bright colors. Such intricate design, bearing royal hallmark colors such as yellow and red, imparts auspiciousness and long-lived wealth.

"This beautiful pair of Qianlong vases have caused great excitement, attracting the attention of key collectors internationally, both when touring to Christie's New York and Hong Kong and on display at Christie's King Street salesroom in London," said Pedram Rasti, director and head of the Chinese Works of Art Department at Christie's London.

Major auction houses in London are staging Asian art sales this week, including Sotheby's and Bonhams.

Last month, a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) blue and white lobed "Fish Pond" bowl sold for $29.5 million to an Asian private collector at Sotheby's Hong Kong.

In 2010, a Chinese vase discovered during a routine house clearance in a London suburb went under the hammer for $68.7 million, 40 times its estimated price. But the intended purchaser is understood to have backed out of the deal in a dispute over auction fees.

duxiaoying@chinadaily.com.cn