A "$3" Chinese bowl has auctioned for $2.2m at Sotheby's New York, as part of Asia Week.
Purchased for a mere $3 by a collector in 2007, the small pottery bowl was found to be a 1000-year-old "Ding" bowl, dating from the Song dynasty, which ruled China from AD960 to AD1279.
 The only other similar bowl from the period has been on permanent display at the British Museum for over 60 years |
Sotheby's placed a conservative $200,000-300,000 estimate on the piece, but four bidders battled over the item, driving prices ever upwards at the March 19 sale.
The bowl ultimately sold to Giuseppe Eskenazi, a well known London-based art dealer.
Several high profile Chinese porcelain sales have occurred of late: a Chinese Qianlong vase brought $1.4m on March 14, while a Yuan dynasty jar realised $1.1m in Beverly Hills on March 17.
If you are tempted to invest in this thriving market, see Paul Fraser Collectibles' guide to identifying fake Chinese ceramics.
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