$35 Connecticut Yard Sale Find Could Fetch $500,000 At Auction

NEW YORK CITY — To paraphrase an age-old adage that has been used more times than anyone chooses to count, what is one person’s garage sale bargain is another person’s rare, Chinese Yongle period treasure that is worth up to $500,000.

The too-good-to-be-true story rang true again for a Connecticut bargain hunter who purchased the rare 15th century blue and white "floral" lotus bowl for $35. Later this month, the keepsake will be auctioned off by Sotheby’s for between $300,000 and $500,000, the New York-based auction house announced in a news release.

The bowl was discovered by the unidentified consignor outside of New Haven last year. The piece apparently caught the person’s eye due to its “striking and intricate” design, Sotheby’s officials said. The person didn’t haggle over the $35 asking price, the auction house said, and brought it to Sotheby’s to be evaluated for its rarity.

This delicate bowl, measuring 6.25 inches, is a quintessential Yongle product made for the court, showing the striking combination of superb material and painting with a slightly exotic design that characterizes imperial porcelain of this period, Sotheby’s said in a news release announcing the bowl will hit the auction block March 17.

The bowl is believed to be from the court of the Yongle Emperor, who ruled from 1403 to 1424, according to CNN. Other pieces listed in Important Chinese Art auction are valued up to $1.5 million.

According to the item listing on the Sotheby’s website, the bowl is shaped in the form of a lotus bud or chicken heart and features four painted blossoms of lotus, peony, chrysanthemum and pomegranate flower, alternating with four emblems of zabao (miscellaneous treasures). According to World Journal, a Chinese newspaper, the $500,000 price would be more than 14,000 times its original asking price.

"The Yongle Emperor really promoted the artistic importance of porcelain," Angela McAteer, the head of its Chinese art department, told CNN. "He elevated it from being a utilitarian bowl, for example, into a true work of art."

Only six bowls of its kind are in existence, Sotheby’s said, with most of the pieces being owned by museums around the world. Two of the six are on display at the National Palace Museum in Taipei while the remaining pieces can be found at museums in Iran and London.