A SMALL vase bought at a car boot sale in the New Forest for £10 is predicted to fetch more than £20,000 at an antiques auction.

The rare Chinese enamelled vase, believed to have been purchased at the Strawberry Fields car boot near Lymington, bears the Qianlong Imperial mark and dates from the 1736-95 period.

The owner, who is not being named, decided to sell the 12cm high piece on ebay and was astonished when the bidding rocketed to more than £10,000.

He withdrew the pear-shaped vase, which has an hexagonal base with signs of restoration, from sale and sought advice from auctioneers Woolley and Wallis in Salisbury, who valued it at between £20,000 and £30,000.

John Axford from the auctioneers said: “He realised it was worth checking what he had. This shows that it is important for members of the public to be able to bring items to specialist auctioneers for information and appraisal.”

The yellow vase, which bears a quail and millet design similar to a piece in the British Museum, comes from the Beijing Imperial Palace and would have been made by Imperial command in the palace workshop.

The quail and millet are used in Chinese as a pun for “sui sui ping an2 which translates as “everlasting peace year after year”.

The vase will go up for sale at Woolley and Wallis’s Asian Art auction on November 15.