Bowl bought at yard sale for $35 turns out to be rare Chinese artifact

While spending $35 at a yard sale for a small porcelain bowl might not seem like a good investment, it turned out to be the deal of a lifetime for a Connecticut resident.

The bowl turned out to be a 15th Century Chinese artifact, of which only seven are known to exist, says Angela McAteer, an expert on Chinese art with Sotheby’s Auction House.

It’s valued at somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000, she says. “It was immediately apparent to both of us that we were looking at something really very, very special,” says McAteer, who learned of the find after the unidentified buyer emailed Sotheby’s.

“The style of painting, the shape of the bowl, even just the color of the blue is quite characteristic of that early, early 15th century period of porcelain.”

Despite the artifact’s historical significance, its owner has no intention of hanging onto the bowl.

It’s hitting the Sotheby’s auction block on March 17th, McAteer says. Odds are it will fetch a lot more than $35.

Cox Media Group