This Ceramic Bowl Was Bought at a Yard Sale for $35—It’s Actually Worth $500,000
A man in Connecticut bought a floral ceramic bowl at a yard sale for $35 last year, unaware of its true value.
AP News reports that the man (who wishes to be anonymous) had a hunch that he might have bought something special and sent an email with photos of the bowl to auction house company Sotheby’s for evaluation. As Sotheby's experts Angela McAteer and Hang Yin reviewed the ceramic bowl, they both noticed how valuable the piece actually was.
“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," McAteer told AP News.
The piece is actually a Chinese artifact that was made during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). This bowl is one of only six ceramic bowls like it in existence and they are all currently housed in museums throughout the world.
The bowl can now be found on Sotheby’s website as a part of their "Important Chinese Art" auction beginning on March 17th. On the site, Sotheby’s says that the bowl is in good condition, aside from a minor chip on its outer rim.
The listing further explains that the piece was created during the Yongle period (1403– 1424), which many regard as a heyday in Chinese porcelain production. The emperor at the time oversaw much of the production of porcelain and heavily guarded it so that it would only be distributed throughout specific trading routes, making this piece all the more valuable.
It has yet to be disclosed how this rare artifact ended up in a yard sale for such a small price, but Sotheby's says that it might have been passed down through a family that was unaware of its value.
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