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A badly damaged Chinese vase has sold for a whopping &pound;186,000 despite it having a gaping hole in its neck.<br />
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The 21ins tall blue and white vase had spent 40 years locked away in a warehouse until it was found by the son of its late owner during a clear out.<br />
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He showed it to experts who identified it as an exceptionally rare imperial vase dating from the Emperor Yongzheng period of the Ching dynasty of the 18th century,<br />
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But auctioneers gave it a modest value of between &pound;6,000 to &pound;10,000 because of the amount of damage it has sustained.