A collector who likes to have their cake and eat it shelled out a small fortune to snap up the Duchess of Richmond’s dessert crockery.

The rare 19th century Nantgarw porcelain had been kept in a cupboard under a set of stairs at her Goodwood Estate.

Due to the fact it had hardly been used it fetched a premium price when it went under the hammer for £20,000.

Paul Campbell, owner of Campbells Auction House in Worthing, had originally valued the set at between £6,000 and £8,000 but was delighted to see the duchess’s china reach more than three times the lower amount.

He said: “We were surprised it got that much, but it wasn’t down to the provenance and the previous owner, but the fact that it is such an exceptional set.

“It had never been out of the cupboard. They were in the very best condition with not a knife mark or a scratch on the whole set.

“It was a very special set that had been kept in the cupboard under the stairs. This is a very rare make.

“They were only in production for three or four years. They are the very best of British.

“The buyer left a commission bid but there was a lot of competition from online bidding, from on the telephones and people in the room.”

Nantgarw Pottery was a special producer based on the eastern bank of the Glamorganshire Canal, north of Cardiff.

Established in 1813, it was regarded as one of the world’s best until it closed in 1920.

Collections of Nantgarw Pottery can be found in the National Museum of Wales and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The duchess – born Susan Grenville-Grey before marrying the tenth Duke of Richmond in 1951 – is an ardent animal lover known for rescuing battery chickens and creating the Goodward International Dressage competition.

The duke and duchess live in the six-bedroom Molecomb house after handing the main Goodwood House to their son, the Earl of March.