Couple sell Chinese vases for £500,000

A pair of vases left on a bedroom shelf have transformed a couple's retirement after selling for almost £500,000 at auction in Dorchester.

The Qianlong dynasty porcelain pieces were a wedding present from the vendor's father in 1965. An antiques expert spotted the 10in-high vases on a bedroom shelf when he was invited to value other items at their home. They smashed the pre-sale estimate of between £40,000 and £60,000 when a foreign bidder paid £482,000.