A DAMAGED teapot sold for a five figure fee despite original estimates that it would fetch just £150 in a local saleroom.

The Sevres teapot, dated 1833, sold for £16,500 at Lifford Hall in Broadway during Kingham and Orme's auction of Antiques and Collectables.

Sevres porcelain was made notably for royalty and the aristocracy and auctioneer and valuer George Kingham recognised it as being something 'rather special.'

He had however, felt that the handle, which at some point had been broken and repaired, would adversely affect the price.

The paste teapot is decorated with monkeys and stands at 16cms tall, it was sold to a French bidder on the internet.

The teapot was brought in to their Kingham and Orme's office for valuation by a local person who said he ‘just wanted it gone’, and instructed the auctioneer to add a reserve of just £150.

The teapot was hotly contested by bidders worldwide, on the phone and on the internet, but was won by a bidder in France and so will soon be on its way back to the country in which it was originally made.