The origins of the 15cm statue, verified as authentic on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, remain a mystery. Could it have been left there by 15th-century Chinese explorers?
In 2018, a pair of Australian film-makers were doing runs with metal detectors in remote Western Australia as they prepared to shoot a documentary about the French exploration of Australia. The film was supposed to feature a hunt for scientific equipment believed to have been left in the area by the Baudin expedition of 1800-1803.
There was no trace of Napoleonic-era exploration, but what they did find was something perhaps even more unusual.
