A WOMAN sold a box of broken pots that had been sitting in her attic for two decades for a whopping £200,000 but nearly lost the lot.during the Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the 20th century, but assumed they were largely worthless due to damage.They gave the collection an estimate of £740-1,350, but the interest in Chinese porcelain saw the 13 lots go for a staggering £162,000 hammer price, rising to £196,992 including fees.
Ms Stewart was given the box labelled "broken porcelain" when her grandparents died, took it to her home in Lincolnshire in 2002 and put it in the attic.A lot of 16 pieces of porcelain, including four 'month cups' of the type made at the Imperial kilns in the Kangxi period, had an estimate of £50-100 but sold for £59,000 under the hammer.
A set of four Chinese tea bowls with matching saucers bearing a Tao Kuang reign mark and with some chips and repairs sold for £26,000 and a lot of two tea bowls and two bowls with cracks and chips made £10,000.Auctioneer James Laverack 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'.