And finally… new bowl for the balls, please!

The bronze censer bowl turned out to be was a unique relic made for the Chinese emperor 300 years ago. A British auction house dismissed it as a cheap 19th century copy when they once valued it and as a result the bowl was used as an ordinary piece of furniture.

The heirloom of an unnamed German family had been evaluated before at a British auction house but was dismissed as a worthless 19th-century imitation.  

It was only when the family invited Asian art specialist Regi Preiswerk to their home to look at some other antiques that its true potential was spotted.

The phoenix-shaped handles and peony flower gilded on to it confirmed it was imperial and made for one of the emperor’s palaces.

There has been no record of any other bowl of its type being sold on the open market before.

Auctioneers gave it a pre-sale estimate of £40,000 but the 2ft wide bowl generated huge interested after it was displayed at an antiques fair in Hong Kong.

It eventually went under the hammer for a record £3.3m. With fees added on the total price paid for it was £3.8m.

The owners, a Swiss family, were said to have been thrilled with the result.

Karl Green, of Zurich-based Koller Auctions, said: “The bowl came down through a German family who now live in Switzerland. They have had it for about 100 years after a grandfather brought it back from China.”