A small beaker bought with a job lot of pottery for under £100 has sold for a whopping £45,000 after it was found to be an incredibly rare piece of porcelain. The three-inch tall cup with a chipped rim was bought by accident by a lucky dealer who snapped up a tray-load of pieces because he liked another item on it. After retaining the item of porcelain he took the rest to an auctioneer who immediately spotted the potential of the blue and white beaker. Lucky: The job lot one buyer snapped up for £100 because he liked a different item in it contained a very rare beaker (pictured) that ended up selling for £45,000 . Hallmark: The crown and trident on the bottom of the valuable cup featured on only 20 pieces of Chelsea porcelain . Closer examination showed it was made by renowned Chelsea porcelain 266 years ago and was one of two pieces of its type in existence today. Despite this, the auctioneers remained cautious and gave the beaker an estimate of just £100-£200 ahead of its sale. But interest in the item took off as did the bidding and it eventually went under the hammer for £37,000. With fees added on the British buyer paid £44,400 for it. It is believed the beaker once made up a high quality dining set for a wealthy family and would have been akin using cut glass crystal. On the bottom of the vessel is a seal mark of a crown and trident and only 20 pieces of Chelsea porcelain contained this mark. Chris Large, of auctioneers Peter Wilson of Nantwhich, Cheshire, said: 'Chelsea porcelain was at the top of the tree in terms of quality and was comparable to Meissen. Estimate: Cautious auctioneers at Peter Wilson valued the incredibly rare beaker at between £100 and £200 . 'The beaker would have been used for practical purposes back in the day. It was a status symbol, a bit like getting out your best crystal while entertaining today. 'A local dealer bought it in a tray-lot of items. He wanted something else on that tray and gave us the rest. 'I recognised as very early Chelsea porcelain but the vendor wasn't convinced that it was. We remained cautious but after we advertised the sale we started getting calls from the Lonon trade reserving telephone lines for the auction. 'Needless to say the vendor is over the moon with the outcome. 'I have never handled an item that is rarer than this beaker and probably never will.'
The three-inch tall beaker turned out to be a very rare piece of porcelain . Made by famous Chelsea porcelain and is only one of two in existence . Trader decided to buy the lot because he liked another item it came with . Auctioneers thought the small cup would sell for between £100 and £200 .