Woman buys $3.99 vase at Goodwill worth over $100,000
A woman found a jackpot item at Goodwill but didn’t realise its actual worth until after she had purchased it for just $3.99.
Jessica Vincent is an expert when it comes to second-hand shopping. However, she’s never found or sold an item worth as much as $100,000 until she picked up a colourful vase at a Goodwill store in Hanover County, Virginia. Speaking to the Washington Post on 18 December, the 43-year-old woman admitted she was initially drawn to the beautifully blown glassware, but didn’t immediately purchase the item. Vincent ultimately decided that the vase was worth it for just $3.99 - if only she knew just how much it was actually worth at the time.
“I circled back because I wanted to go check that vase out - and it was still there,” Vincent told the Washington Post. “I knew that day it was coming home with me. I said: ‘Even if it’s $8.99, I’m bringing it home,’ which is expensive, in my mind.”
An “M” was engraved into the bottom of the skinny cylinder, designed with green and red strokes across the body of the vase. Vincent wasn’t sure what the “M” stood for, but assumed it meant the vase was made in Murano, Italy. “It was so big and it stood out to me with its colour, but I didn’t know what it was,” she recalled. “I liked it and it was different, and I knew it would be part of my collection.”
Though Vincent’s initial intention was to keep the piece as her own, her plans changed once she discovered its true origin. Assuming the vase was made in Murano, she posted a picture to a Facebook page for glassware made in the area. Eagle-eyed experts knew right away it was designed by Carlo Scarpa, a renowned Italian architect, and produced in a Murano glass workshop. The glassware was originally created as a part of the designer’s “Pennellate” series from the 1940s.
After concluding the value of the rare piece, Vincent contacted Wright Auction House - a contemporary auction house headquartered in Chicago with a location in New York - to inquire whether the piece was a Scarpa original. After two glass specialists confirmed it was real, Vincent listed it for auction with an estimated price between $30,000 and $50,000.
On Wednesday 13 December, it was sold for a whopping $107,000 to an unidentified private art collector in Europe. Nearly $83,500 of the proceeds from the sale went to Vincent, and about $23,600 went to Wright Auction House. Now, Vincent and her partner plan on investing the money into repairing a farmhouse she purchased some time ago.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Vincent - who is also a polo horse trainer - remarked: “It was pretty thrilling to think I sort of had a masterpiece on my hands. For me, it felt like a disappointing day thrift shopping, so this turned that day around quickly.”
“This is really going to help me so much. It just felt like the universe was conspiring to help me get down the road a little bit further,” she added.
Richard Wright, the president of Wright Auction House, also spoke to the Washington Post about the Scarpa vase. “Knowing that Jessica went into this Goodwill in Virginia and saw this glass vase sitting in a thrift store undamaged is unbelievable,” he said. “This was a gift from the thrifting gods.”
“It was definitely the star of the auction,” Wright added.
Laura Faison, a spokeswoman for Goodwill of central and coastal Virginia, told the outlet that the vase was donated by an anonymous donor this past summer. “At the time, we did not realise this was of great value, as thousands of things come in every day,” she noted. “We are just as surprised, shocked and happy as everyone else.”
The Independent has contacted Goodwill and Wright Auction House for comment.
