A modest vase picked up at a Virginia Goodwill store for $3.99 turned out to be an extremely rare piece of Murano glass that sold at auction for $107,100 — nearly $50k more than the auction house expected.
The lucky finder was Jessica Vincent, who spotted the 13-inch green and burgundy striped vase during a random stop at the Richmond Goodwill in June.
“I saw that it was a solid piece of glass and it was heavy, not junk,” the eagle-eyed thrifter told Elle Decor of his epic find.
The next clue that the vase might be something more than a typical thrift store find was when he turned it over and saw the word “Murano” engraved on the bottom, indicating it came from the famous island of glassblowers off the coast of Venice, Italy.
“I’m not a glass expert, but as soon as I saw the Murano sign, I knew I wanted to buy it,” Vincent told Southern Living.
He took his gift to the register and was surprised that it only cost $3.99, saying he expected to pay $8 or $9. But that good fortune was only a glimpse of what was to come.
Once home, Vincent, who raises polo horses, immediately began conducting research online to find out more about it, including posting photos to a Murano glass Facebook group.
Jessica Vincent turned a $3.99 thrift store find into a six-figure payday. JESSICA VINCENT
“Everybody’s excited about it,” he said.
Members of the group helped him identify the vase as part of a collection produced in the 1940s by the famous Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, part of the “Pennellate” series (meaning “brush stroke” in Italian), designed for the Venini glass workshop. on the island of Murano.
After his discovery, someone in the group offered Vincent $10,000 on the spot, which is when he knew he might have something special.
Instead of accepting the attractive offer, he instead sought out the expertise of Wright’s New York Auction House. The next thing he knew he was on the phone with auction house founder Richard Wright.
“We had a great phone call where he explained how rare this piece is,” Vincent told the magazine.
Vases found by Vincent in Richmond, Va. Goodwill, which turned out to be a rare piece of Murano glass from the 1940s. WRIGHT AUCTION HOUSE
After speaking, Wright’s resident glass expert made the drive to Richmond to confirm his findings, a moment Vincent said gave him chills.
“I can count on one hand this time it’s happened this long,” Wright Auction House glass expert Sara Blumberg told Elle Decor.
“This is really a very rare occurrence – especially on Goodwill.”
This week, Vincent’s diamond-in-the-rough find fetched an unthinkable $107,100 at a Wright auction featuring 33 lots of Italian glass — more than $50,000 more than the auction house expected.
When the hammer fell, Vincent and his partner were delighted with the life-changing amount it sold for.
“The money means a lot to us and will benefit our lives and our future together,” he said. “This is a real blessing, and I’m so glad that the vase is going somewhere where it can be safe and fully appreciated (and it’s not clearly from Goodwill!)”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
