Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

An ordinary-looking bowl thought to have come from Korea has been identified as an extremely rare Chinese item from the Song Dynasty worth around GBP 30 million.

The first-millennia bowl was made during the Chinese Song Dynasty that lasted from 960 until 1127 AD.

Experts had previously not paid much attention to it after it was falsely categorised as originating in Korea, but were amazed when it was re-evaluated to discover that the porcelain bowl belongs to a category whose items are extremely rare and have been sold for huge prices.

The blue-green bowl, with a 13-centimetre diameter, was stored in a depot of the Dresden State Art Collections in Germany.

However, since the institution is creating a porcelain catalogue, expert Regina Krahl was brought to evaluate some of the items.

She quickly discovered that the so-called Ru piece of pottery comes from China and was created during the Song Dynasty.

She said: “In the abundance of Chinese ceramics that exists from all times, Ru ceramics are the rarest and have always been considered as the crowning glory in any collection. Fewer than a hundred pieces have survived worldwide and each one is registered and published.”

Previously in a 2017 auction, a similar bowl was sold for USD 37.7 million (GBP 27.3 million) Augustus II the Strong brought. However, the artefact located in Dresden is not for sale.

The director of the porcelain collection at the museum, Julia Weber, said: “The little bowl fits in perfectly with Dresden, where Augustus II the Strong brought the last collection of Chinese porcelain outside of Asia.”

Experts believe that the bowl was probably made for washing brushes.

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