Cafe Worker sells £8.50 vase for £4,195

Cafe worker sells £8.50 vase for £4,195 after she spotted a similar one on Antiques Roadshow and realised it was a Ming-dynasty Chinese relic

•  Mary Lawler, 23, spotted the double green celadon antique in a charity shop

A cafe worker who bought a vase for £8.50 at a charity shop sold it for £4,195 after she spotted a similar one on Antiques Roadshow and realised it was a Ming-dynasty Chinese relic. 

Mary Lawler, 23, spotted the double green celadon antique while going around charity shops in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, with the aim of decorating her mother’s toilet.

She picked it up as she liked the look of it, unaware it was a valuable Ming-dynasty  era Chinese relic.

The 10 inch tall vase had a stint in the downstairs toilet before being used as a doorstop in the porch.

She only learnt of its value after seeing a similar vase on BBC Antiques Roadshow which was valued at £10,000.

Mary Lawler (pictured), 23, spotted the double green celadon antique while going around charity shops in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, with the aim of decorating her mother’s toilet

She picked it up as she liked the look of it, unaware it was a valuable Ming-dynasty (1368-1644) era Chinese relic

Mary took it in to Lockdales Auctioneers, of Ipswich, Suffolk, who confirmed its importance and they have now sold it on her behalf.

The vase achieved a hammer price of £3,400, with auctioneers fees taking the final figure paid by a UK private collector to £4,195.

Mary will spend the proceeds from the sale on repairing her Volkswagen Golf.

Her mother Amy Lawler, 49, had tasked her with finding an ornament for her toilet.

Mary sent her a photo of the vase to get her mother’s approval before parting with the cash as they had only planned ‘to spend a fiver’.

Amy, a supply teacher who has moved to Norfolk, said: ‘We were decorating the downstairs toilet about three years ago in a 1970s style and my daughter went around some charity shops to find something to put in it.

‘She sent me a picture of the vase and I said yes so she paid £8.50 for it and brought it home.

‘We had only planned to send a fiver!

‘We put it in our downstairs toilet and after a while moved it to the porch to be used as a doorstop.

‘When we saw the vase that appeared on the Antiques Roadshow we thought ‘that is exactly like ours’.

‘We took it into the auctioneers and it is both shocking and exciting to learn how much it is worth.

‘We are really pleased with the result and Mary can do up her car now!’

Chris Elmy, Lockdales specialist, said: ‘It was a privilege to work with this rare piece of ceramic art.

‘The design of the vase is very intricate being a ‘vase within a vase’ with lattice-work sides, and would have been the work of an expert potter.

‘It is not something you see every day in the average charity shop.’

The Antiques Roadshow episode aired last September, with expert Lars Tharp valuing that item at between £5,000 and £10,000.

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