NEW YORK -- A rare Chinese bowl bought at a tag sale for $3 has sold at a New York City auction for more than $2.22 million.

The 1,000-year-old bowl was part of the opening session of Sotheby's fine Chinese ceramics and works of art auction on Tuesday.

Sotheby's says it was sold to a London dealer for $2.225 million, far above the presale estimate of $200,000 to $300,000.

The person who put the bowl up for auction bought it at a tag sale in 2007 and had it displayed in the living room for several years before becoming curious about its origins and having it examined.

The bowl is 5 inches (12.5 centimetres), white in colour and from the Northern Song Dynasty.