Never dismiss a cardboard box of family heirlooms in your Cheshire attic! It could be the stuff of dreams

If cardboard boxes packed with family heirlooms are gathering dust in the loft a major auction success offers a salutatory lesson. A client expected little when he bought a box of his late mother’s dishes to Hansons. He consigned them to auction with an estimate of £30-£50. Six of the items went on to make more than £100,000 at auction - much to his amazement.

Following the loss of his mother earlier this year, the 67-year-old retired computer engineer has been clearing her house, which was adorned with colourful pottery.

I spotted some of her items in a cardboard box in the saleroom - and they took my breath away. Inside were Chinese ceramics which appeared authentic. Adam Schoon, a familiar face on TV’s Antiques Roadshow and Chinese ceramics expert assessed the collection.The news was good. They were genuine.

I called the vendor to tell him some of his mum’s pottery would be entering Hansons’ Fine Art Auction with estimates in excess of £10,000. He was over the moon, but his luck was set to get even better.

Despite chips, a set of four small dishes (lot 357) achieved a hammer price of £63,000 from a £4,000-£6,000 guide. Three phone bidders battled against the internet. The total paid by a Chinese bidder, with buyer’s premium, was £81,900.

The dishes turned out to be late 16th century Chinese Ming Dynasty wucai porcelain dragon and phoenix dishes. Each dish bore six character marks in blue of the Wanli Emperor (1573-1620).

They were not the only items plucked from the cardboard box to excel. Lot 358, an Imperial porcelain yellow ground medallion bowl, Daoguang (1821-1850), with a seal mark in blue and of the period, sold for £14,500 against a £1,500£2,500 guide.

Hot on its heels came lot 359, an Imperial porcelain famille rose pink ground medallion bowl, Daoguang (1821-1850), with seal mark in blue. It achieved £8,800 against its £4,000-£6,000 estimate.

Both bowls (lots 358/359) sold to a private UK buyer for a combined total, with premium, of £30,290. Together, the three Chinese lots achieved hammer prices totalling £86,300. With buyer’s premium the total paid was £112,190.

The stunned seller told me the pottery had been gifted to his mother decades ago by an engineer she helped to care for. They’d been displayed in the family home for around 40 years.

So, what’s in your cardboard box? Never dismiss anything. Come to see us.

The Chinese ceramics sold in Hansons Auctioneers’ March 30 Fine Art Auction. To enquire about free valuations or house visits in Cheshire call 01283 733988 or email Janet Rawnsley: jrawnsley@hansonsauctioneers.co.uk.

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