A SMALL collection of Chinese ornaments have sold for £12.5 million – more than double the value of the Dorset stately home they were found in.

A bidding war broke out among Chinese collectors for the 16 pieces of jade, which have been in display cabinets at Crichel House, Wimborne, for 60 years.

Multi-millionaires from the Far East are rapidly buying back their cultural heritage, sending prices soaring and leaving Western bidders struggling to compete.

Some of the antiques date back to the 18th century when they were made for a Chinese emperor. The price fetched at Woolly and Wallis of Salisbury set a new record for a regional auction house.

John Axford of Woolly and Wallis said: “The market for Chinese art has changed beyond all recognition over the last three or four years.

“Something you would have quoted £20,000 for a couple of years ago would now be £200,000. It is similar to the Americans at the start of the 20th century. They got rich and bought fantastic art. Western dealers and collectors are finding it very difficult to compete.”

The jade pieces would have been brought to Britain in the 19th century and belonged to the late Mary Anna Marten, a goddaughter of the Queen Mother.

She bought most of the items from antique dealers in London in the 1940s and 1950s and paid top prices for them at the time.They were kept at her residence, 18th century Crichel House.

The house is worth about £5m but the sprawling 400-acre estate is valued at much more. Mrs Marten died last year and her family decided to sell the antiques at auction.

Mr Axford said: “We had a huge number of bidders in the room as well as on the phone from Hong Kong and mainland China.

“We brought in three Mandarin speakers to assist with the bidding.”

“Most of the pieces went to private collectors but a number of them, like the elephants and bell, are already being displayed in museums in Beijing.”

Factfile

• A white jade deer ornament sold for £3.9m, a bowl for £2.4m and a bell for £2.4m.

• A pair of pale green jade elephants that sat either side of emperor Qianlong's throne at an Imperial palace went for £1.2m.

• The other dozen items sold for six figure sums.