A miniature vase bought for £2.50 from a charity shop in Epsom is expected to sell for £7,000 when it goes under the hammer.

The 4 inch tall ornament is being auctioned off at the end of July by Canterbury Auction Galleries in Kent.

They identified it as the work of Namikawa Yasuyuki, one of Japan’s most famous artists from the Meiji Period.

The vase is decorated with a cockerel, hen, and chicks amongst flowers, with birds in flight above, on a black ground.