Chinese vase bought for £10 at Hampshire car boot sale fetches £61,000

The base of the vase was damaged, but it still sold for more than double its estimated price

A rare Chinese vase, bought for £10 at a Hampshire car boot sale, has been sold for more than £60,000.

The enamel "two quails" vase, is thought to have been made at Beijing's Imperial Palace at least 220 years ago.

Auctioneers Woolley & Wallis said the owner only realised its true value after he put it on eBay.

It had been estimated as being worth up to £30,000, but sold at auction in Salisbury for £61,000, including the buyer's premium.

The seller, who did not wish to be identified, picked up the vase at a car boot sale near Lymington.

Before the auction, the vase was valued at between £20,000 and £30,000

When eBay bidding reached £10,000 he withdrew it and took it for a valuation.

Woolley & Wallis Asian art expert John Axford confirmed the vase bore the four-character Qianlong mark - the sixth emperor of the Qing dynasty - and would have been made by Imperial command in the palace workshop between 1736 and 1795.

He said it had turned out to be an "excellent investment".