Rare Buddhist doorstep fetches £500k at auction

A DOORSTEP gathering moss outside a couple’s home, which was identified as a rare Buddhist heirloom, has sold for more than £500,000 at auction.

Bronwyn Hickmott spent ten years trying to persuade auction houses, television antique shows and stone masons that the granite artefact was “something special”. But they turned her away until a local Bonhams expert examined the stone outside Mrs Hickmott’s home in Exeter, Devon.

The step – or Sandakada pahana – was put up for sale at the auction house in London yesterday, where it was expected to fetch up to £30,000. Instead, it sold for £553,250. A delighted Mrs Hickmott said she was
“utterly amazed” that the step – affectionately known as “the pebble” by her family – had reached so much money.

Experts say the carved step, which weighs three-quarters of a ton, is similar to those found in the ancient city of Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka.