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# Decorative bowl spotted on sideboard could fetch thousands at auction
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/decorative-bowl-spotted-on-sideboard-could-fetch-thousands-at-auction/
- Published: 2024-07-30T05:59:00.000Z
- Updated: 2024-07-29T06:42:17.000Z
- Description: A decorative dish spotted on a sideboard at a local property could sell for thousands of pounds at auction, an expert said.
- Author: Lichfield Live
- Tags: #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-22 18:53, News

A DECORATIVE dish spotted on a sideboard at a local property could sell for thousands of pounds at auction, an expert said.

The piece – thought to have little value by its owner – was spotted by auctioneer Charles Hanson during a house call near Lichfield.

The bowl was an Elizabethan mother-of-pearl Indo-Portuguese piece, believed to have been crafted in Gujarat on the western coast of India in the late 16th or early 17th century.

It’s thought to be a rare survivor of wares popular with the wealthy elite and royalty during the days of the Portuguese empire and could fetch between £10,000 and £15,000 when it is sold in September.

Charles, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, says it was likely it was brought to the UK by a British merchant for a royal or noble household around 400 years ago.

> “I’d been called in to inspect some French glass and jewellery but spotted the dish out of the corner of my eye sitting on a sideboard.   
>  
> “The owner was a little dismissive. Her husband acquired it in London in the 1970s, but she had no idea of its potential value and was shocked by its importance.  
>  
> “It was a scarce luxury object then and now. Items like this were deemed so exotic they were gifted to royalty – and we have the Portuguese to thank for this trend because when their country’s empire was at its height, its people commissioned mother-of-pearl wares.   
>  
> “The fragility of items like this mean few survive but a local sideboard has proved to be a safe haven.”