Gill Stewart was in her attic rooting around for the Christmas decorations when she came upon the box unpromisingly labelled “broken porcelain” passed on to her by her grandfather 20 years before.
Her first instinct was to put it in the bin but, happily, she decided to take it to an auctioneer on the off-chance, and the pieces have netted her a very pleasant £160,000.
Stewart’s grandfather, Brig Robert Kellie, had collected the porcelain when he was stationed in China during the Boxer rebellion at the turn of the 20th century. Over the years, some had been damaged and she inherited the box after Kellie died. She stored it in the attic of her Lincolnshire home.
After rediscovering the box, Stewart took it on a whim to the John Taylor’s Auction Rooms in Louth to see if it was worth selling. The auctioneers divided it into lots and gave the collection an estimate of £740-£1,350 but it was sold for £196,992 including fees.
James Laverack, the auctioneer, said: “Before Christmas, the vendor went up in the attic to get her Christmas decorations, saw the box and thought: ‘Oh yes. I must do something with that.’
“She was in two minds as to whether it was worth selling or to just go in the bin. Earlier this year, she brought it in to us and asked if it was worth selling. We thought it would sell well but we didn’t think for a minute it would do that well.
“We got some advice but Chinese porcelain is a minefield. As the week went on from it being listed it was apparent there was a lot of interest but even a few hours before the sale we didn’t expect the result.
“I called the vendor when her lots had finished and she was very shocked. I asked her if she had watched, she said: “No.” I asked if she was sitting down, she said: ‘No, but I will now,’ and I told her. She said: ‘I beg your pardon.’
“It’s the sort of stuff that doesn’t look like anything that special, that someone would pick up at a car boot sale, but it’s rare, collectable and it’s what the market wants.
“One lot was broken and had been glued back together. Our expert told us it would be worth £20,000 in good condition, but ours wasn’t in good condition so we only had an estimate of £100. It still sold for £5,000.”
Kellie had kept notes about some of the pieces, detailing the reign mark – which records the name of the Chinese dynasty and the reign of the emperor during which the piece was made – design, and who was responsible for any damage.
The two best-selling lots went to a UK dealer in the room. A lot of 16 pieces of porcelain, including four “month cups” of the type made at the imperial kilns in the Kangxi period (1662-1722) had an estimate of £50-100 but sold for £59,000.
