A small wooden table kept as a family heirloom for years has sold for £278,080 amid speculation it had been made for the Imperial Palace in 19th-century China.

Expected to fetch as little as £1,000, the hardwood altar table sparked a bidding war at auction this week.

The successful bid – more than 200 times the expected sale price – will see the rare antique returned to the Chinese mainland.

The vendor is absolutely thrilled by the rather unexpected result

The table is believed to be made from genuine Huanghuali wood, a highly coveted material first popular in the late Ming dynasty.

Philip Belcher, managing director of Bellmans auctioneers, said: “Made from Huanghuali wood, the table is likely to have been an Imperial Commission and as such a desirable piece Chinese collectors would covet.

“Tables in similar style were often produced for the export market, but every once in a while a piece in this particularly rare wood would make it out of China and these pieces are of course of far more value.

“The vendor is absolutely thrilled by the rather unexpected result.

“The table had been an heirloom, but it had never been pointed out to him that it may be of particular importance.”

It was sold by Bellmans auctioneers, based in Wisborough Green, West Sussex.