A BRIT who found an old plate gathering dust on their shelf has discovered it is actually a rare masterpiece worth £210,000.
The anonymous antique collector was blown away after taking the relic to an auction house “on a whim” and learning its true value.
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After inheriting the lacquer circular charger, the owner had stashed the detailed dish on a shelf and somewhat forgot about it for decades.
Despite suspecting it was either Chinese or Japanese, they had no idea that it was worth the six-figure sum.
The antiquarian then haphazardly decided to take the plate to a provincial auction house to find out more about its origin.
Impressed experts believed the deep red charger, measuring 12 inches in diameter, dated back to the Ming Dynasty of imperial China.
Before going on sale, it was initially estimated to be worth just £3,000 – until bidders in Asia got wind that it was up for grabs.
Kinghams Auctioneers, located in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, then received an abundance of eager enquiries from potential buyers.
Eagle-eyed antique lovers realised the intricately designed plate was created by an acclaimed craftsman during the Yuan Dynasty in the 14th century.
The process of creating carved lacquer, known as Diaoqi, was an extremely time-consuming and complicated task.
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Those skilled enough would begin by using a wooden base to build up lacquer in numerous layers of resin and tree sap.
This would then form into a durable natural “plastic”, which designs were then carved into – making it a luxurious product in its heyday.
The carved lacquer trend was at its peak during the Yuan Dynasty and were later offered as diplomatic gifts in the early Ming.
Keen to own a slice of such rich history, a hectic bidding battle ensued between antique enthusiasts.
It was then sold for a hammer price of £165,000 – although the new owner paid a whopping £210,540 after fees were added on top.
Adrian Rathbone, an associate director at Kinghams, said of the sale: “The vendor brought it to us on a whim.
“They had inherited it about 20 or 30 years ago and it had just been sitting on a shelf gathering dust.
“I guess they were just looking at it one day and wondered what it might be worth.”
He explained the auctioneers and valuers carried out extensive research before realising it was “something special”.
Mr Rathbone continued: “We thought it was from the Ming period but it turned out to be even older than that.
“Bidding just took off. The vendor is over the moon and it is a really good result. It is a tidy sum and an early Christmas present for them.”
The hefty price tag on the plate marked a record sale for a single lot sold by Kinghams, after knocking a piece of lalique sold for £140,000 off the top spot.
We previously told how a man was jailed after finding Viking coins worth £5.2million – and gambling it all away.
Metal detectorist George Powell, 40, failed to declare the rare coins and jewellery he discovered on a Herefordshire farm back in 2015 admitting greed got the better of him.
It is estimated around 300 coins with a value of £5,285,250 were buried at the farm for over 1,000 years – but Powell claims to have only found 51.
He was jailed for 10 years in 2019 alongside fellow rogue detectorist Layton Davies, 54, – but a court has heard Davies knew nothing about the sale of any coins.
Despite this, Davies was jailed for eight-and-a-half years for theft and concealment.
Powell, from Newport, South Wales, admitted selling 20 of the coins to bent dealer Simon Wicks – who he met at service stations on the M4.
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