Better Left to the Experts. Why Take Chances?

$3 Tag Sale Find Sells for $2.22M

The Associated Press

Mar 21, 2013, 1:16 AM

A rare Chinese bowl bought at a tag sale for $3 has sold at a New York auction for more than $2.22 million.

The 1,000-year-old bowl was part of the opening session of Sotheby’s fine Chinese ceramics and works of art auction Tuesday.

Sotheby’s says it was sold to a London dealer for $2.225 million, far above the presale estimate of $200,000 to $300,000.

The person who put the bowl up for auction bought it at a tag sale in 2007 and had it displayed in the living room for several years before becoming curious about its origins and having it examined.

The bowl is 5 inches in diameter, white in color and from the Northern Song Dynasty.