Two 16th-century vases from one of Cornwall's most famous stately homes sold this week for almost £750,000, setting a new world record.
The rare Iznik bottles from Trelissick House, the estate belonging to the National Trust in Feock, near Truro, date back to the time of the Ottoman Empire
The pieces were sold by Bonhams at auction on Tuesday for a total of £748,500 – one fetching £447,250, the other £301,250 – as part of an Indian and Islamic sale.
Bonhams has been charged with selling the rest of the contents of Trelissick House on July 23 and 24.
The total sale value of the 750 lots is expected to be up to £1.5 million and will include fine English and French furniture, Chinese porcelain, silver, wine, books and paintings.
Trelissick House was once home to Leonard Daneham Cunliffe, one of Britain's most distinguished collectors.
The former deputy governor of the Bank of England, and major investor in Harrods, was famed for his eclectic tastes with great eye for quality. After his death in 1987, part of his vast collection of Renaissance bronzes, Chinese ceramics, Limoges enamels, furniture and paintings, was bequeathed to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.