A RARE porcelain vase thought to have graced a Chinese imperial palace over two centuries ago has been discovered at a valuation day in Kendal.

The vase, which is to be sold at Bonhams Fine Chinese Art sale in London on May 12, is estimated to be worth between £50,000 and £80,000.

It was only taken to the valuation at Kendal's Stonecross Manor as an afterthought when its owner, a retired council worker from Cumbria, decided at the last minute to add the vase to her silver spoons and plated ‘ bits and pieces’.

As she waited at the hotel with hundreds of other hopefuls from across the county, the pensioner had no idea whether her vase was even genuinely Chinese.

Bonhams specialists were amazed when they unwrapped the vase from the towel in which it had been hastily wrapped to find a vividly decorated Famille Rose Chilong bottle vase bearing the six character seal mark of the great Emperor Qianlong.

“I went quite giddy when the Bonhams people told me what the vase could be worth" said the owner, who did not wish to be named. “All I could think was: ‘Things like this don’t happen to people like me.’ ”

Christopher Jarrey, Senior Valuer at Bonhams North West, said: “The owner of this wonderful vase had no idea of its value and was quite bowled over – as indeed were we to find it. It’s a great example of why we offer so many valuation days in Cumbria. Not everybody can travel to a Bonhams office so it’s really important for us to go where people are rather than expect them to come to us.”

Sixth Emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, Qianlong, ruled for 60 years from 1735, throughout China’s Golden Age. A wise administrator, he was also a noted poet, painter and collector of cultural antiques. Economic growth in present day China has been accompanied by a strong demand to repatriate items of national heritage lost over the years and the vase is expected to create a great deal of interest there.

Left to the present owner by her mother, who had inherited it from a friend, the vase has stood for years on top of a corner cupboard in the living room of her Lakeland semi. It has survived at least four house moves, and the attentions of children and grand-children.

“Only days before I decided to take it to Bonhams, my vase was plonked on top of a pile of furniture and things because were we decorating," she said. “If I had had the remotest idea of its value, it would have been wrapped in cotton wool and locked away. “