£10.00 spent at Car Boot Sale BARGAIN fetches £60,000.00 story from BBC 15/11/2016
A rare Chinese vase, bought for £10 at a Hampshire car boot sale, has been sold for more than £60,000. The enamel “two quails” vase, is thought to have been made at Beijing’s Imperial Palace at least 220 years ago. Auctioneers Woolley & Wallis said the owner only realised its true value after he put it on eBay. It had been estimated as being worth £20-30,000, but sold at auction in Salisbury for £61,000, including the buyer’s premium. The seller, who did not wish to be identified, picked up the vase at a car boot sale near Lymington. Image copyright Wooley & Wallis Image caption Before the auction, the vase was valued at between £20,000 and £30,000 When eBay bidding reached £10,000 he withdrew it and took it for a valuation. Woolley & Wallis Asian art expert John Axford confirmed the vase bore the four-character Qianlong mark – the sixth emperor of the Qing dynasty – and would have been made by Imperial command in the palace workshop between 1736 and 1795. He said it had turned out to be an “excellent investment”.