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£1 Car Boot Sale Purchase Turns Out to Be 600-Year-Old Jade Dog Worth Up to £10,000
A Chinese jade carving bought for £1 at a UK car boot sale has been identified as a rare 600-year-old relic from the early Ming dynasty. The 8.5cm dog, made from mottled black and green jade, is set to be auctioned by Hansons Auctioneers in Derbyshire, with estimates it could fetch up to £10,000. Auctioneer Charles Hanson confirmed the piece's age and described it as having a 'magical history'.
By Tertius News AI Desk3 distinct · 3 mastheads · 3 articlesVersion 1Coverage Published
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A £1 Find at a Car Boot Sale
A small Chinese jade carving bought for just £1 at a UK car boot sale has been identified as a rare relic believed to date back to the early Ming dynasty, over 600 years ago. The 8.5cm-long dog, carved from mottled black and green jade, is set to be auctioned at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire, where it is expected to fetch up to £10,000.
Auctioneer Charles Hanson said the discovery demonstrates how valuable historical objects can sometimes be found unexpectedly at car boot sales. Speaking about the sale, Hanson explained that one of the auction house's clients arrived at the car boot sale relatively late, close to midday, rather than early in the morning. While browsing a stall, the buyer noticed the small animal carving placed inside a box.
The Artefact and Its Origins
Hanson described the piece as an 'archaic seated recumbent dog' carved from black and green jade. The carving shows a seated, recumbent dog with its head turned backwards, while its legs and tail are curled towards its body. Experts believe the piece dates from the late 14th or early 15th century, placing it in the early years of the Ming dynasty, between around 1380 and 1420.
The unusual black-and-green colouring makes the jade particularly rare, Hanson said, while its age adds significantly to its importance. Despite some scratching on the carving, Hanson noted that its condition is remarkable given its possible age. He also pointed out that if the dating is accurate, the dog could have been carved around the time of the Black Death, making it more than a century older than the reign of Henry VIII.
The Seller's Suspicion and the Sale
The person who sold the carving reportedly believed that the object was made from jade and had some suspicion that it could be an old piece. Despite this, the item was sold for just £1. Hanson reflected on this, saying: "It still shows what can be lost and found, and the art of uncovering treasure around the United Kingdom."
Cultural Significance of Jade
Hanson spoke about the deep cultural importance of jade in Chinese history, describing it as a 'mystical, magical substance' that was believed to bring good fortune. "This dog has a magical history from China and it's revered by the Chinese today who, as back then, adore jade and collect these hard stone animals," he said.
The jade dog is now due to go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers on Wednesday, with Hanson expecting it to realise up to £10,000. The discovery, made just two months ago, serves as a reminder of the unexpected treasures that can still be found at car boot sales across the UK.
How each outlet told it
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Framing: The headline emphasizes the stark contrast between the £1 purchase price and the potential £10,000 auction value, while highlighting the object's age and status as a 'treasure'.
Facts Included:
A small Chinese jade carving was bought for £1 at a UK car boot sale.
It is believed to date back to the early Ming dynasty, around 1380 to 1420.
The carving shows a seated, recumbent dog with its head turned backwards, while its legs and tail are curled towards its body.
The discovery was made two months ago when a buyer came across the object at a car boot sale in the UK.
The jade dog is set to be auctioned at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire, on Wednesday.
Auctioneer Charles Hanson said the discovery demonstrates how valuable historical objects can sometimes be found unexpectedly at car boot sales.
According to Hanson, one of the auction house's clients arrived at the sale relatively late, close to midday, instead of early in the morning.
While browsing a stall, the buyer noticed the small animal carving placed inside a box.
Hanson described it as an 'archaic seated recumbent dog' carved from black and green jade.
Experts believe the piece dates from the late 14th or early 15th century.
The person selling the carving reportedly believed that the object was made from jade and had some suspicion that it could be an old piece.
Hanson said the carving's distinctive black-and-green colouring makes it especially unusual.
Its possible age further increases its historical and cultural importance.
The auctioneer estimates that the tiny jade animal could sell for as much as £10,000 when it goes under the hammer.
Hanson pointed to the deep cultural importance of jade in Chinese history, describing it as a 'mystical, magical substance'.
Despite some scratches on the carving, Hanson said its condition is remarkable given its possible age.
If experts' dating is accurate, the carving could have been created around the period of the Black Death.
That would make the tiny dog more than a century older than the reign of Henry VIII.
Hanson said, 'This dog has a magical history from China and it’s revered by the Chinese today who, as back then, adore jade and collect these hard stone animals.'
Framing: The headline emphasizes the transformation of a £1 car boot sale purchase into a rare and valuable Ming dynasty relic worth £10k.
Facts Included:
A rare Chinese jade dog more than 600 years old could fetch up to £10,000 after it was bought for £1 at a car boot sale.
The item is estimated to be from the early years of the Ming dynasty, made approximately between 1380 and 1420.
Auctioneer Charles Hanson said the dog, which was bought at a car boot sale just two months ago, has a “magical history”.
The dog is going on sale at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire, on Wednesday.
Mr Hanson said: “We always think we need to be at a car boot sale really early – six in the morning ‘wakey, wakey’.
“But one of our clients went to a car boot sale very late, getting towards midday, and left on a stall, in a box, was this fairly unassuming chap behind me.
“What we’ve got is what we might call an archaic seated recumbent dog in black and green jade.
But it’s Chinese and it’s a really important late Song, early Ming.
“We believe this little dog to be probably late 14th, early 15th century and there’s many ways we’ve been able to confirm that.
He added: “It’s an important Chinese jade and being picked up for £1 only about two months ago, we expect it ought to realise up to £10,000.
“The vendor had an idea it was jade.
It’s the rarer jade in this green and black.
“Furthermore to that, the vendor had an inclination it might be old.
“It still shows what can be lost and found, and the art of uncovering treasure around the United Kingdom.
Mr Hanson said jade was a “mystical, magical substance” in Chinese society and was believed to bring good fortune.
He said: “There is some scratching, but (it has) the condition of something, which if you imagine was made probably at our time of the Black Death, was made 200 years or 150 years before Henry VIII came on the throne.
“This dog has a magical history from China and it’s revered by the Chinese today who, as back then, adore jade and collect these hard stone animals.
Framing: Emphasizes the bargain purchase and the discovery of a 600-year-old Ming dynasty treasure that could fetch £10,000 at auction.
Facts Included:
A Chinese jade dog was bought for £1 at a UK car boot sale and identified as a 600-year-old Ming dynasty treasure.
The jade dog could fetch up to £10,000 at auction.
The dog depicts a seated, recumbent dog with its head turned backwards and its legs and tail curled up.
The discovery was made two months ago when a buyer spotted the object at a car boot sale.
The jade dog is due to go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire, on Wednesday.
Auctioneer Charles Hanson said the discovery highlighted the unexpected treasures that can still be found at car boot sales across the UK.
The vendor reportedly suspected that it was jadeand had an inklingthat it could be old, but sold it for just £1.
Hanson said the jade's unusual black-and-green colouring makes it particularly rare, while its age adds significantly to its importance.
Hanson expects the small carving to achieve up to £10,000 when it goes to auction.
Jade has long been associated with good fortune and has been treasuredand collected in China for centuries.
Despite some scratching, Hanson said the condition was remarkable considering the object's possible age.
If the dating is correct, the dog could have been carved around the time of the Black Deathand more than a century before Henry VIII came to the throne.
Hanson said, "This dog has a magical history from China and it’s revered by the Chinese today who, as back then, adore jade and collect these hard stone animals."
AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the mastheads we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimA Chinese jade dog was bought for £1 at a UK car boot sale.
ClaimIf the dating is correct, the dog could have been carved around the time of the Black Deathand more than a century before Henry VIII came to the throne.
ClaimHanson said, "This dog has a magical history from China and it’s revered by the Chinese today who, as back then, adore jade and collect these hard stone animals."