Fans of hit antiques show Bargain Hunt have been issued some sage words of advice after what looked like a teapot fetched nearly £400,000 at auction.
Presenter Natasha Raskin Sharp, 36, fronted a repeat on Thursday afternoon, March 23, and was joined by auctioneer Charles Hanson, 45, reports the Mirror. He brought with him a "special object" which, while resembling a teapot at first glance, was actually a "rare Chinese wine ewer".
Described by Charles as "very sacred, very important and very rare", the decorative item was yellow and featured colourful floral designs on it. He went on to explain that the jug would have been used by the court of Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century.
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Discussing the item, he said: "It's amazing and I think this is the ultimate Bargain Hunt find." He said it had been brought into the sale room in a bag for charity by a client.
Charles said: "This is only one of three known". He said that the other two are in the Museum of Taipei in Taiwan and the Museum of Beijing in China respectively.
The auctioneer said the example in front of them had been found in Burton-on-Trent. He said: "Unbeknown to the owner, it had been in his house, in his loft for over 50 years."
Charles said it had been brought to the UK by the owner's grandfather, who had been in Japan during the 1940s. He added that it was initially booked in at a "low estimate", with it suspected that it might be worth up to £150. He said that figure rose after further inspection and research.
After sharing other previous estimates, he added: "Now we're advising the market that this important ewer is probably going to be guided between £100,000 and £150,000."
Natasha later caught up with Charles following the auction of the ewer and he admitted to having been "very nervous" when he was auctioning off the antique.
Charles revealed that the opening bid had been £100,000 and it was subsequently announced that the hammer had come down at £390,000 for the antique in question.
The auctioneer said that bidding had "stuck" at the opening bid for a couple of minutes initially before international bids rose the figure. "We kept on going up," he said.
"When it hit a quarter of a million [...] I felt relief because it was my first big milestone," he added. Charles said his team gave him a round of applause after the auction.
Natasha went on to issue a message to viewers in response to the sale of the object, encouraging them to check for such antiques in their own homes. She said: "What a result! The lesson here is check your loft for hidden ewers."
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