1,000-year-old Chinese dish bought for $3 sells for $2.22MILLION

A rare Chinese bowl bought at a yard sale for $3 has sold at a New York auction for more than $2.22 million.

The 1,000-year-old bowl was sold as part of the opening session of Sotheby's fine Chinese ceramics and works of art auction on Tuesday.

Sotheby's says it was sold to a London dealer for $2.225 million, far above the pre-sale estimate of $200,000 to $300,000.

The bowl is from the Northe Song Dynasty. The person who put the bowl up for auction bought it in 2007 and had it displayed in their living room for several years.

They only discovered it was valuable after becoming curious about its origins and having it examined. The bowl is five inches in diameter.

The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279 - and was divided into two distinct periods: the Northe Song and Southe Song.

Items made during the period are noted for their glazes and simplicity. Decoration is relatively rare - but where used can be incised, molded, impressed, or carved.