A Connecticut resident bought an antique 15th century bowl at a flea market. The purchase cost him only $ 35. Insider writes that the ceramic bowl turned out to be a work of art from the 15th century.
According to the report, an antique hunter stumbled upon this rare item at a garage sale in the New Haven area of Connecticut, and later sent photos of it to experts at Sotheby’s.
Specialists in Chinese art and ceramics, looking at the pictures, immediately realized that they were “something special.” After detailed examination, they confirmed that the bowl was created in the early 1400s, during the reign of Emperor Zhu Di.
The 16 cm bowl is decorated with an ornament in the form of lotus buds and a chicken heart – integral elements inherent in ceramics from the Ming dynasty. In total, six such bowls have survived in the world, and there is no one similar in the United States. Two are in the Imperial Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, two are in museums in London, and one is in the National Museum of Iran. It is not yet known how such a relic got to a flea market and, in principle, ended up in Connecticut.
Insider notes that the bowl will be sold on March 17 in New York at the Sotheby’s auction. The starting price of the lot is 300-500 thousand dollars.