‘US$1 million’ ancient Chinese cauldron smashed after being sent by courier

A man in southern China may be out of pocket by nearly seven million yuan (US$1 million) after he sent an ancient bronze cauldron in the post and it ended up smashed to pieces, according to a newspaper report.

The man agreed to sell the cauldron dating to the Zhou dynasty (1046BC-256BC) to a collector in Shenzhen for 6.8 million yuan, the Southern Metropolis News reported.

The man, who was not named, said the item had been handed down the generations by his family and that the price paid was relatively low as the true value of the piece could be much higher.

The cauldron was shipped by courier from an undisclosed location in Hunan province to Shenzhen, but was found to have shattered into pieces on arrival.

The man said he paid more than 900 yuan to send the package, including insurance, and that he had told the delivery firm to be careful, noting the item was valuable.