AN Italian pottery plate has sold for an astonishing £567,000 at a North Dorset auction.
Charterhouse in Sherborne auctioned the plate, which was chipped, on Thursday.
Partner and auctioneer Richard Bromell, pictured, said: “It was almost an Only Fools and Horses moment, as the pottery plate was hanging on a wire frame in the client’s cottage.
“Not only that, most of it was hidden by a door which was always kept open.
“At first, I expected the pottery plate to be a 19th century copy but after researching it, had it confirmed by Professor Timothy Wilson at The Ashmolean as being made in Urbino, Italy around 1540.”
On the auction day, specialist dealers turned up and battled it out with private collectors with the hammer finally falling to a London dealer.
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