Thrift stories are a dime a dozen, but some lucky shoppers come across a deal that’s almost like the lottery. Case in point: One ukay-ukay regular ventured to her local store and came out with an artsy glass vase, which just happened to be a rare art piece worth P5.9 million!
LOOK: Woman Buys Rare Glass Vase at a Thrift Store and Auctions It for P5.9 Million
During a visit to the non-profit thrift store Goodwill in Hanover County, Virginia, Jessica Vincent chanced upon an iridescent glass vase, shaped in the form of a bottle and designed with red and green swirls. After noticing a small “M” etched on the bottom–which she thought stood for Murano, the Italian island known for producing high-quality Venetian glass–Jessica thought that it may be valuable.
“I had a sense that it might be a $1,000 or $2,000 piece,” she told The New York Times. “But I had no clue how good it actually was until I did a little bit more research.”
She eventually paid $3.99 for the vase, which is approximately P222. After researching about the curious item online, members of a glass identification group referred her to the Wright Auction House. Once she sent photos of her newly purchased vase, the auction’s house president Richard Wright asked for a call.
The vase in question was confirmed to be the work of the renowned Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, as part of his Penellate series from the 1940s. And while specialists from the auction house estimated the price of the vase from $30,000 to $50,000 (approx P1.6 million to P2.7 million), the actual auction fetched much more than that. The house eventually sold the prized item for a whopping $107,100 or approximately P5.9 million to a private art collector in Europe. Jessica was able to bring home $83,500 (approx. P4.6 million), while the Wright Auction House received $23,600 (approx. P1.3 million).
The auction house’s president said that he was particularly impressed by the pristine state of the vase, which was why it was worth that much money. “If it had a chip—even a small chip—it would have probably sold for under $10,000,” he said. “This was like a winning lottery ticket.”
Jessica, on the other hand, knew that she didn’t want to keep the vase for herself, especially because of its potential significance to the art world. “When I did learn how rare they are and the value that it could be, it made me sort of nervous to have it because anything could happen to it,” she said. “I knew I wanted to get it back in the art world. They didn’t know it existed. I feel like I saved it from obscurity.”
We hope to be that lucky!
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