Chinese vase found in a pet-filled house which was once sold for $56 to now sell for $9m

A long-forgotten Chinese vase, once sold at auction for just $56, went under the hammer for over 70 million Hong Kong dollars ($9 million) over the weekend after being discovered in an elderly woman's country home.

Described by Sotheby's as a "lost masterpiece," the rare 18th-century artifact spent the last 50 years in a remote house in central Europe surrounded by the owner's pet cats and dogs, according to the auctioneer.

The highly unusual vase -- in which a blue-and-white floral design is visible through the object's lattice-like body -- was made specifically for the Qianlong Emperor, who ruled China for more than 60 years.

"It is a miracle that this extraordinarily fragile vase survived half a century in a home surrounded by countless pets," said chairman of Sotheby's Asia, Nicolas Chow, in a press statement prior to the sale.