A PAIR of rare Chinese porcelain bowls smashed the house record at a Guernsey auction yesterday as they sold for more than £1m.

Martel Maides’ auction rooms were packed when the hammer finally went down at £1.02m. – sold to one of the 14 telephone bidders.

A further single bowl far exceeded its estimate, going for £280,000.

Until yesterday, the record for a single lot sold by the firm was around £70,000.

‘I’m still running on the adrenaline,’ said auctioneer Clive Maides after the sale. ‘It just goes to prove that, with all the technology we now have, a provincial auction house like this can reach the rest of the world,’ he said.

Potential buyers flew in from all over the world to be at the sale.

‘One man came over from Hong Kong yesterday but, unfortunately, he left empty-handed,’ said Mr Maides.

Three Yongzheng-period famille rose bowls were sold in all – a single and the pair. The same Guernsey family has owned them for at least the last 80 years. The bowls date from between 1723 and 1735.

Mr Maides said the clients had previously used the bowls at family parties to serve crisps and nibbles.