A Chinese shopping list written 300 years ago has been found stuffed inside an 18th century vase.

The porcelain has been on display for almost 25 years at Fairfax House in York. It was uncovered while the elegant Georgian house was being cleaned.

Peter Musgrove, who co-ordinates the work, said: "I took it out to clean and heard a rattling in the bottom of the vase. "I gently poked a stick inside and drew up a crumpled up piece of rice paper with black ink Chinese writing."

The director at Fairfax House, showed the artefact to a Chinese student from the University of York who said it was the remains of a decorator's shopping list containing the costs of pigments needed to decorate the vase.

The paper, which is very delicate, has been sent away for further analysis.
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Ha, all those years and no one looked inside. Neat find.

What an absolutely beautiful vase..and what a great find......

Wow, thats brillant

I wonder where oh where could Owlscry get these strange articles.

Oooof - the money they are going to spend just to analyze someones shopping list.

Nice vase though.

I guess the Moo goo Gaipan never got made, which is a shame. They probably ended up ordering out.

It really is a beautiful vase, and it would be interesting to know what,s on that shopping list!

LOL - does anyone else ever notice when you order take out chinese they always tell you "okay, 10 minute"

Yes that would be interesting to see what's actually on that list.

10 minutes?! What speedy place do you order from? Remember the movie "Dude Where's My Car" where they're ordering and they keep saying "and den?" My place always says, "Any ting else?" after everything I say.

Back on topic, the article says that it's the shopping list for the actual pigments used to paint the vase. I'm thinking, that list is only going to up the value of that vase. Anyone who watches Antiques Roadshow knows the more info to back up the story, the more it's worth!