Exceedingly valuable Ming vases masquerading as ordinary umbrella stands seem to be a thing. In 2010, a retired couple from Dorset, England, took their battered umbrella stand into Duke's auction house for valuation. It was revealed to be an 18th-century Ming vase worth £765,000 ($942k).

Unbelievably, it wasn't the only Ming vase that had lived a second life as an umbrella stand discovered that year. During a house clearance in London, an umbrella holder was found to be a Ming vase from the Qianlong period. The historically significant item realised a record auction price of £43 million ($53m). Christie's London reported a similarly spectacular find in 2016. A valuer appraising objects in a client's home stumbled upon an 18th-century Dragon vase that was also being used to store umbrellas. The treasure went on to sell for $20 million (£16.2m) at auction in Hong Kong.

Treasures people didn’t know were hiding in their homes