Rare plates fetch thousands at auction

One rare Brislington Delftware Royal plate sold for £12,600 at auction

Two historic Delftware plates belonging to a Devon family have sold for more than £20,000 at auction.

The rare 17th Century artefacts, depicting King James II and a Chinese figure standing in a rocky landscape, were sold separately for £12,600 and £7,560, including buyers' premiums, at Woolley & Wallis auctioneers on Wednesday, a spokesperson said.

Clare Durham, ceramics specialist at Woolley & Wallis, said the two items were "incredibly rare", adding neither has been seen on the market for "upwards of a century".

The plates appeared on BBC One's Antiques Roadshow in Exeter in 2014, when ceramic expert John Sandon described them as "rare as you can get".

This plate featuring a Chinese figure sold for £7,560

While appearing on the television programme, the owner said she had transported the valuable items to the city in her handbag and they had been hanging in the hallway of her husband's family home for years.

Woolley & Wallis said one of the plates depicting the last British Catholic monarch, who reigned between 1685-1688, was one of the strongest clues to their date and value.

Ms Durham said: "The sale of two historic Delftware plates... shows that Delftware still has a following."

She said the prices paid were representative of the current market, adding: "The price for the plate featuring King James II was strong considering it had been broken in half."