£28m cereal bowl!

To the untrained eye it looks perfect for your morning serving of cornflakes.

But this rather plain bowl is actually a highly important ceramic dish from Imperial China that sold for a world record £28million yesterday.

Measuring 5in in diameter, it was used by painters and calligraphers for washing their brushes and is around 1,000 years old.

It was made for the imperial court during the Song dynasty at the Ru kilns in eastern China, which were one of the Five Great Kilns that are revered among collectors of Chinese pottery.

The brush washer had a guide price of £10million for the auction at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong but there was a fierce 20-minute bidding war and the dish eventually sold to an anonymous bidder at a world record sum for Chinese ceramics.

There are thought to be just 87 pieces of Ru official ware in existence and only six have been sold publicly since 1940. They have an almost mythical status that is attributed to the kiln’s short-lived production period, thought to be less than 20 years.

It is a hugely important part of China’s culture, with the small pieces considered the epitome of the Chinese potters’ craft.