IT was bought for £10 at a Hampshire car boot sale - but its new owner couldn't have imagined how much it was really worth.

The rare Chinese "two quails” enamel vase was thought to have been made at Beijing's Imperial Palace two centuries ago.

Woolley & Wallis Auctioneers in Salisbury, where it sold, said ‘’the owner only realised its true value after he put it on eBay’’.

‘’It had been estimated as being worth £20-30,000, but sold at auction in Salisbury for £61,000, including the buyer's premium’’.

The seller, who wishes to remain anonymous, picked up the vase at a car boot sale near Lymington.

When the new owner put it up on eBay and bidding reached £10,000, he withdrew it straight away and put it in for auction.

John Axford, Asian Art expert for Woolley & Wallis, said ‘’I have confirmed the rarity of the vase bore the four-character Qianlong mark from the sixth emperor of the Qing dynasty so would have been made by Imperial command in the palace workshop between 1736 and 1795’’.

He added that the vase had turned out to be an "excellent investment’’ for the owner.