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Ms Machan said: "The vase had the provenance of having an identical one on the Antiques Roadshow - and to an extent we were relying on the provenance of the BBC programme."

She showed it to auctioneers Lockdales - and their specialist Liza Machan agreed.

"There was a lot of interest in it pre-auction," Ms Machan said.

“No one cares about these former Republicans,” spokesperson Evan Machan said in a statement.

Noting that a Democratic City Council member in Cincinnati had pleaded guilty Monday to similar corruption charges, Ohio Republican Party Communications Director Evan Machan issued a statement that said Democrats “should be ashamed of how they have betrayed their constituents.”