One woman was able to win big when she realized a vase that had a signature at the bottom of it might be worth a pretty penny, and boy was she right.
Jessica Vincent discovered the rare Italian vase during her weekly thrifting trip in Richmond, Virginia, and was able to turn a $3.99 purchase into quite a steal.
After buying the vase at Goodwill, made by Carlo Scarpa, Vincent was able to sell it at auction for $107,100.
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The Wright auction house, who made the sale, praised Vincent for her savvy nature in realizing the vase might be worth some money.
Because to my untrained eye, it looks like any old vase with some green and red streaks added in for color.
Richard Wright, president of the auction house, told CBS News the ‘Venini’ signature on the bottom was the sign that it was a rare piece.
The vase is part of Scarpa’s Pennellate series for Venini and was produced in 1942. The piece in this particular series is difficult to make, likely increasing its worth.
“She did research and ultimately spoke with people on an Italian glass collecting Facebook group. And because of our position in the market and our history of producing these auctions, the people on Facebook told her to contact us,” he said.
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“It's a very well documented piece of glass. Carlo Scarpa is really one of the preeminent, most famous glass designers of Italian glass in the midcentury. So, his designs are valued by the market right at the top.”
The auction house explained why the vase was worth so much as my art history knowledge is limited to put it kindly.
“Like many great artists, Scarpa’s work as architect and designer is highly influential and yet remains enigmatic, illusive and hard to categorize,” the auction house said.
“What is obvious in all his work is an underlying transcendental quality, an uncanny ability to create powerful emotional states in all who experience it.”
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The buyer certainly saw the appeal as the auction house only estimated the piece was worth $30,000 to $50,000.
You must know a thing or two about art or really love the vase to want to pay over double its worth, a scenario Wright said he was ‘delighted’ with.
He also said it was unknown how the piece even ended up at Goodwill. “Whether it was passed down in a family and somehow [they] lost track of how special it was and was donated to a charity, one can only speculate,” he said.