$150 TV stand used to store booze actually a $10.4m Japanese antique

A CHEST bought for $150 and used as a TV stand and drinks cabinet has sold for $10.4 million - after it was revealed to be a long-lost Japanese antique.

The 370-year-old cedar wood and gold lacquered box was spotted by an auctioneer when the daughter of the late owner lifted up the TV and offered him a sherry from \"Daddy's bar\", The Sun reports.

The box was made in 1640 and had belonged to France's chief minister Cardinal Jules Mazarin, then British poet William Beckford and several top collectors. It went missing in 1941 and London's Victoria and Albert Museum had been searching for it ever since.

The unnamed owner - an engineer living in London - bought the chest in 1970 from a Polish doctor. He took it with him when he retired to France and died never knowing its value.

It was only when his daughter called in auctioneer Philippe Rouillac to value the old man's possession that its value became clear.

Auctioneer Rouillac says his father only saw the piece when the woman offered him a drink.

 

Detail of the intricate carving on the chest. Picture: Rouillac Auctions

\"The daughter went over to what appeared to be a big box in the coer of the room,\" Rouillac told The Sun.

\"After lifting the TV off, she removed a throw and opened up the box which was full of bottles of alcohol.

\"He couldn't believe what we he was seeing.

\"He asked the daughter what it was, and she replied, 'It is Daddy's bar'.\"

The chest was bought at auction by Amsterdam's National Museum, the Rijksmuseum.

Its curator of East Asian art, Menno Fitski, said: \"This chest is the best of the best.\"

Read the full story at The Sun.