Panels bought at jumble sale for pennies sell for £5,000

Panels bought at jumble sale for pennies sell for £5,000 View 2 Images

A pair of mystery Chinese panels bought for 'pennies' at a jumble sale have been sold at auction for more than £5,000. The pair of silk panels depicting front-facing dragons were identified by buyers as being associated with high-profile figures in Chinese society.

Experts now believe the panels may even have been worn by emperors during the 18th-century Qianlong period. Neil Bathgate, whose nan Nora bought the silks at a jumble sale in the 1970s, admitted that he was 'gobsmacked' that they were worth more than a few quid - having been given a guide price of between just £40 and £60.

But after the panels were sold by auctioneers Hansons to a Chinese collector for £5,500, Mr Bathgate said his nan, who died in 2012