Unwanted Ming dynasty jar bound for skip sells for £1,700

A blue and white porcelain jar about to be thrown in a skip has been sold for £1,700 after being identified as from the Ming dynasty.

The jar, which had considerable damage, had been used as a stick stand by the front door of a country house in Herefordshire.

Jeremy Lamond, fine art director at Halls auctioneers in Shrewsbury, said it was about to be thrown in a skip.

But he identified it as being from the early 17th Century....