Ornament from 18th century used as DOORSTOP by elderly couple fetches £85k at auction
A DUSTY ornament used as a doorstop by an elderly couple has been sold for £85,000 after it turned out to be an 18th-century treasure.
An elderly couple had been using the bronze figure of Mahakala as a doorstop
Initial estimates valued the small figure at about £500 but bidding quickly leapt after it proved to be a bronze figure of Mahakala, a deity from Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.
The 26cm-tall Sino-Tibetan figure is wearing a crown of severed heads surrounded by a background of flame.
It was part of an auction of Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Islamic Art.
It became part of a international bidding war and was sold to a bidder from Hong Kong who will have to pay a total of £105,000 with commission.
Robin Fisher from Mallams auctioneers in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, said: “We were surprised by how much it sold for.
“The couple had just come in to have it valued and I think they will be surprised.
“It was just used as a doorstop and it is not on the original base.”