Remarkably akin to a tacky lawn ornament sitting on top of a cheap “ethnic” wooden box made cheaply by starving Indian factory workers, this piece really has a truly unique history. For in actual fact, the box and the tortoise can never be separated. Legend has it that the tortoise was created by the spirit gods to guard the sacred scrolls kept within the box beneath, but nobody has yet managed to separate the two: or indeed to open the box.

Value: £1.5m