It is a find that would have bargain hunters swooning with envy.
After being smothered in dust and forgotten in an old barn, this pair of beautiful bowls were discovered by an eagle-eyed expert looking around a house.
The giant Chinese porcelain fish bowls had been ignored for so long that they were discovered languishing in dust and containing a mummified mouse.
The matching yellow pair were made in the 19th or early 20th century for the last dowager empress of China, Cixi, to keep her goldfish in.
What a find! This giant pair of Chinese porcelain fish bowls, that were made in the 19th or early 20th century for the last dowager empress of China, Cixi, are now to be sold at auction
They are now to be sold at auction and have been given a conservative estimate of £10,000, but are likely to sell for much more.
They come with their original, decorative hardwood stands and were spotted by an expert doing a routine valuation at a house near Colchester, Essex.
The bowls are decorated with peony blossoms and would have be used to keep fish in, possibly at an imperial palace.
They measure 18 by 21 inches and are stamped with the iron-red Dayazhai character mark enclosed within an oval medallion with a dragon border.
James Grinter, from Reeman Dansie’s auction house in Colchester, was the expert who spotted the bowls.
He said: 'I was on a routine valuation and these bowls were in a barn and had clearly been there for many years and were covered in dust.
'In one on them was a dead mouse and it had been there for so long that it had mummified.
'It had obviously fallen in and couldn’t get out again. The bowls were originally used to keep goldfish in.
'They have the mark of the last dowager empress of China, but we can’t say if they were used by her or came from an imperial palace - we’ll let the market decide that.
'They are large bowls and one of them has been restored a long time ago, which is one of the reasons why the estimate is quite low.
'But they come with their Chinese hardwood stands and are striking pieces.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2179289/Fishing-fortune-Chinese-porcelain-fish-bowls-Essex-barn-set-sell-thousands.html#ixzz2IyyC6HGB
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Fishing for a fortune: Chinese porcelain fish bowls found in Essex barn are set to sell for thousands | Mail Online
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