Charity shop given cracked and damaged pot celebrates £360,000 windfall at auction after discovering it was made by famous artist

Charity shop given cracked and damaged pot celebrates £360,000 windfall at auction after discovering it was made by famous artist - A small damaged pot donated to a charity shop has stunned the art world after it sold for an astonishing £360,000.

The Chinese bamboo brush pot was taken to the store in a carrier bag along with some other junk, but keen-eyed staff spotted that it might be old.

It turned out to have been made between 1662 and 1722 by one of the most famous artists of the day, Gu Jue.

Pot luck: The damaged Chinese bamboo brush pot which was donated to the charity shop

The shop raises money for the St Peter's Hospice in Bristol and average turnover of each of the charity's 47 outlets is 138,000 pounds.

It means that the one donation has achieved the same amount as nearly three years of trading in one shop - and it is all profit.

Chinese puzzle: The writing found on the brush pot made by a famous artist

Despite the bamboo being extensively cracked and the base and rim having been crudely repaired with glue, the item excited the Chinese market.

There was furious bidding at Woolley and Wallis saleroom in Salisbury, Wilts, which oversaw the sale.

There are only two or three people in the world who have the skill to restore it and one of them will no doubt be contacted by the new owner, who is from Hong Kong.

The pot - 16.2cm high by 14.5cm - was carved with magnificent skill to depict a scene including the philosopher Laozi on his ox.

He sits amidst 12 figures in various pursuits in a mountainous landscape beneath pine trees and beside a flowing river.

It probably depicts 'The Agreeable Life in a Land of Transcendents', a famous poem. After the pot was handed in the shop staff in Bristol took it to the local Clevedon Salerooms, where Marc Burridge realised its potential.

He took it to John Axford, a world-renowned expert in Chinese objects, from Woolley and Wallis.

Mr Axford said: 'The pot was extensively damaged and the wood had dried and cracked and there was nasty glue stuck to it.

'Luckily its potential was spotted and it is an incredibly rare thing made by one of the most sought after bamboo artists of the 17th century. Scholars in China at the time had a range of accoutrements and the creation of those became an art in itself.

'This would have been used to hold calligraphy brushes and was carved using specialist knives. It is signed with the mark of Gu Jue, followed by the seal Zong Yu, which is probably a studio mark.

'The scene depicts a poem and it is very often hard to identify exactly which one it is. There was real international interest in the pot and all our phone lines were booked.

'I'm sure it will be restored, but there are only two or three people in the world who have the skills to do it.'

Janet Loud, St Peter's Hospice Head of Shops, said: 'We are shocked but delighted that this brush pot far exceeded the amount even experts believed it would raise at auction.

'It is a fantastic boost for St Peter's Hospice in these difficult economic times when fund-raising is tough.' ( dailymail.co.uk )