It started like any ordinary day. On a June afternoon, Jessica Vincent, 43, was browsing the shelves of a Virginia thrift store. That’s when a striking vase caught her eye. The bottle-shaped vase had ribbons of colours, aqua green and amethyst purple, spiralled up its glass surface like stripes of paint.
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On its base, there were two words: ‘Murano’ and ‘Italia’.
Vincent, a horse trainer, didn’t think twice about buying the vase. She paid $3.99 for it at a Goodwill. "I bought it thinking it would look beautiful in my house somewhere," she told the Associated Press.
One lucky find
Vincent has been visiting thrift stores since she was a child. She accompanied her mother to second-hand stores, yard sales and flea markets. In fact, she loves thrifting so much that she goes to thrift stores a few times a week with her partner, Naza Acosta. She is obsessed with PBS’ ‘Antiques Roadshow’ and has long daydreamed about a lottery-ticket find.
So when she found a beautiful vase, she went for it. The vase felt heavy in her hands. Though she had seen painted glass before, the colour grabbed her eyeballs. “I always felt like I had a good eye. But I’m really surprised that nobody picked it up before I did,” she told the outlet. But she had no plans to flip it when buying it. “I definitely didn’t buy it thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to sell this.’”
After reading Murano’s name on the vase, she posted photos on Facebook groups for glass art. She also joined a private group for Murano collectors. And one reply stopped her cold. She learned that those pieces are very rare. “Those are very rare. Every collector would love to have that. But most people cannot afford them,” one Facebook user told her.
Finding such a rare piece also surprised the thrift store managers. Laura Faison, a spokeswoman for Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia, told the outlet the vase probably sat on the shelf for only a couple of days. Each store handles about 2,000 new pieces daily, many arriving from car trunks. "It could have been someone cleaning out grandma's basement," Faison said. "We'll probably never know."
The Murano written on the bottom of the vase referred to an island in Venice that has been famous for its glasswork since the 13th century. Some of its highly priced pieces include ornate crystal chandeliers and mirror frames, many of which adorn the palaces of Europe’s aristocracy.
This particular vase was produced by the famous glass company Venini and designed by Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, who died in 1978.
Selling the $3.99 vase for $107,100
Vincent was pointed to Richard Wright, president of the Wright Auction House in Chicago. He recognised the piece the moment her email arrived. “The minute I saw her email, I knew what it was and how rare it was.”
Scarpa, a top Italian glass designer from the mid-20th century, designed this vase as part of a series created in 1942. The collection was called Pennellate, which means brushstroke, and was made by adding coloured opaque glass to the vase as it was blown.
