A rare Chinese vase left gathering dust in a family's display cabinet was yesterday sold for £2.6 million (€3.8 million), more than 10 times the estimate.
The 650-year-old blue and white vase was discovered in a family home during a routine insurance valuation by Salisbury auctioneers Woolley & Wallis.
The Yuan dynasty piece had been given an estimate of £250,000, but auctioneers had hoped it could break the record for the sale of a piece of porcelain in a provincial auction house and fetch more than £500,000.
But when the hammer fell, the vase had reached £2.6 million, smashing the record, and with a buyer's premium the total cost to the mystery new owner was more than £3 million.
The vase, bought by collector William Alexander in 1900 for 10 guineas, had been sitting in a low display cabinet gathering dust.
Valuer John Axford said that, because of the rarity of the piece, its importance was not immediately apparent.
Before the sale Mr Axford said: "I knew it was an early Chinese vase, but I didn't realise it was a Yuan dynasty piece until we were able to compare it with other pieces of Yuan porcelain."