A ginger jar initially dismissed as “just another piece of blue-and-white pottery” turned out to be a 300-year-old Chinese treasure.
The 9-inch ceramic pot, which is missing its lid, was discovered among other pieces displayed in a farmhouse in Oxfordshire, England, SWNS reports.
“I noticed a ginger jar among a collection of Copeland- and Staffordshire-made plates and bowls,” Paul Fox, a valuer for Hanson Holloway’s Auctioneers in Banbury, explained in a statement.
“I was taken by its striking shade of blue,” he added. “It was an interesting piece, so I asked for permission to take it away to carry out more research.”
“I noticed a ginger jar among a collection of Copeland- and Staffordshire-made plates and bowls,” Paul Fox, a valuer for Hanson Holloway’s Auctioneers in Banbury, explained in a statement.
“I was taken by its striking shade of blue,” he added. “It was an interesting piece, so I asked for permission to take it away to carry out more research.”
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Experts have now confirmed it was made during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, who ruled China from 1661 to 1722.
The 17th-century piece is expected to fetch between $1,200 and $1,900 when it goes under the hammer at Hanson Holloway’s next month.
Painted in cobalt blue and decorated with flowering plants, the pot features leafy scrollwork.
“The inky-blue design is very suggestive of the Kangxi period,” said Hanson’s Asian consultant Adam Schoon, who has appeared as a specialist on BBC TV’s “Antiques Roadshow.”
“It was a delight to examine it. It should do extremely well at auction,” Schoon continued. “Collectors from the Far East are keen to repatriate items like this to their homeland.”
Fox called the jar a “remarkable farmhouse find.”
He noted that blue-and-white ceramics flourished in China under Kangxi.
“Such were their popularity [that] King William III of England housed a large collection at Hampton Court Palace,” Fox said.
He added: “In Chinese culture, the color blue has deep significance. It’s associated with growth and advancement and represents the element of wood. Kingfisher blue was highly attractive to the Chinese court and the Emperor himself.”
Fox encourages others to take a second glance at their antiques and heirlooms.
“It’s so important to get items valued,” Fox insisted. “Many people have objects tucked away at home, perhaps inherited, and they have no idea of their worth. Let us take a look. You just might be sitting on a windfall.”
He explained that the value of the ginger jar “came as a real surprise” to the owner. “They thought it was just another piece of blue-and-white pottery,” he said.