Nguyen Dynasty gold bowl fetches $672,000 at French auction

It fetched 27 times the value estimated by French auction house Million of EUR20,000-25,000.

The bowl was auctioned as part of the Vietnam Art Sales in Paris on Monday when 329 other artifacts also went under the hammer.

According to the auction house, the bowl is 7 cm tall and weighs 456.6 g and has an image of a dragon.

It has a crack and was part of a collection held by a doctor who used to work in Hue in the 20th century.

Antique researcher Tran Dinh Son said it was really a royal utensil used to display daffodils during Tet at An Dinh Palace.

The other high-priced artifact at the auction was a gold card from King Duy Tan (1907-1916) that was sold for EUR70,000.

Vietnamese antiques are becoming increasingly visible and popular at international auctions.

In June, this year a jade bowl owned by Tu Duc, the fourth king of Vietnam’s last royal dynasty, sold for 845,000 euros at an auction in Paris.

In October last year a Vietnamese Mandarin cap from the Nguyen Dynasty fetched 600,000 euros in Spain.