Chinese treasures packed away in cupboard auctioned off for 1.5m pounds

LONDON - A menagerie of tiny animal ornaments kept in a cardboard box in a hall cupboard for years have created frenzy-as they have been sold for a staggering 1.5 million pounds.

And a small wooden carving stored in the same box went for 380,000 pound as it was proved to once belong to Chinese emperor Qianlong 240 years ago.

In all the sale of more than 1,500 items from the home of antique enthusiasts Tim and Fran Lewis fetched more than 4 million pounds.

But it was their collection of about 50 pieces of jade amassed over decades and stored in two boxes in a hallway cupboard for the last ten years that set the auction alight.

Mrs Lewis recently emigrated following the death of her husband earlier this year and she instructed that a whole host of antiques be sold off.

The jade items were unearthed by their housekeeper and were found to date back to between 250 to 800 years and were from Imperial China.

“The house was just an Aladdin’s Cave of antiques, art work and other collectable items,” the Daily Mail quoted auctioneer Guy Schwinge as saying. (ANI)