'Rare' Imperial vase gifted to Lincolnshire officer sold at auction

The vase was presented to a former Met Police Special Branch officer who looked after the Emperor and Empress of Japan during a state visit

A vase gifted to a bodyguard by the Emperor and Empress of Japan following their first state visit to Britain 52 years ago has been sold at auction.

It was given to a 25-year-old Lincolnshire woman who was a security officer for the Imperial couple during their three-day trip in October 1971.

The ex-Met Police officer, now aged 77, decided to sell the vase because she was "decluttering", auctioneers said.

The Fukagawa porcelain was sold for £210 in Scunthorpe on Thursday.

The eight-inch (20cm) vase bears the Imperial Chrysanthemum Seal and has been described by auctioneer Paul Potter as "a rare piece of memorabilia".

"It bears the 16-petal chrysanthemum seal that is used by the Emperor and members of the Imperial Family," he said.

Japanese manufacturer Fukagawa was appointed as purveyor to the Imperial Household Agency in 1910, according to the British Museum.

At the time of the royal couple's visit, the then 25-year-old Special Branch sergeant was tasked to look after Empress Nagako - Emperor Hirohito's wife - during her solo engagements and the vase was given as a "thank you" gift.

Mr Potter said she was one of only a handful of weapons-trained women officers in the Metropolitan Police at the time.

"It's is a rare piece of memorabilia, perhaps one of the few surviving mementos from that state visit," he said.

"The male close protection officers got bottles of whisky - so they probably did not last too long!"

He said the owner was "in the process of downsizing" and had decided to auction the vase, along with a flag that flew over the home of Ian Smith, the former prime minister of Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe.

The former minister illegally declared independence from Britain in 1965 and his white minority government led the country for 14 years amid international scorn and sanctions.