A lucky shopper has experienced his own 'Del-boy' moment after scooping a cool half-a-million pounds for a vase he purchased from a charity shop for just £1.
The anonymous man from Hertfordshire purchased the eight-inch yellow floral pear-shaped vase in a charity shop "because he liked the look of it".
Having no knowledge of its likely provenance or value, he then listed the item for sale on eBay only to find himself inundated with messages and bids.
Now alerted that there may be more to the vase than initially met the eye, he removed it from the site and paid a visit to Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers' in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, for a valuation.
And upon closer examination, the experts discovered the item had originally been made for the Qianlong Emperor, who reigned from 1735 to 1796.
It is believed to have been kept in one of the Chinese emperor's palaces and commissioned in yellow, a special colour traditionally reserved for the ruler.
It is inscribed with an imperial poem that "praises incense" and two iron-red seal marks that read 'Qianlong chen han' - 'the Qianlong Emperor's own mark.'
The vase, which is designed to be attached to a wall, has a flat back and floral decoration. It also reads 'Weijing weiyi' which translates as: 'be precise, be undivided'.
At auction, the vase returned to the far east courtesy of a successful Chinese bidder who paid a hammer price of £380,000, with extra fees taking his overall cost to £484,000.
Yexue Li, head of the Asian art department at Sworders, said: "The vendor was shocked and very excited when we explained its importance.
"It's a high quality vase because it was court commissioned, so it would have been of a high value when it was made.
"This has been the perfect auction story, a bargain find, a culturally important and beautiful work of art and a life changing sum of money for the vendor. He is understandably ecstatic."
