A rare 15th century porcelain bowl made in China that somehow turned up at a Connecticut yard sale and sold for just $35 has been auctioned off for nearly $722,000.
The small white bowl adorned with cobalt blue paintings of flowers and other designs was sold Wednesday at a Sotheby's auction. It's one of only seven such bowls known to exist in the world.
The names of the seller and buyer were not disclosed. Sotheby’s had estimated its value at $300,000 to $500,000. Sotheby's says an antiques enthusiast came across the Ming Dynasty piece at a yard sale in the New Haven area last year.
“Today’s result for this exceptionally rare floral bowl, dating to the 15th century, epitomizes the incredible, once in a lifetime discovery stories that we dream about as specialists in the Chinese Art field,” Angela McAteer, head of Sotheby’s Chinese Works of Art Department, said in a statement to the AP.
Sotheby’s said that the bowl had Middle East influence in its floral designs.
