Couple buys tiny P175 vase in thrift shop that could sell over $13,000 (P709K) in auction
Indeed, big surprises come in small packages. Take it from a couple who purchased a tiny vase in a thrift store that turned out to be a rare Japanese artifact that could sell for more than $13,000 or P709,200 when it heads to auction.
The couple, identified as Karen and Ahmet (both of whom opted to remain anonymous), were looking around a thrift store in the UK when they found the vase. Ahmet showed it to Karen who was "a bit dismissive" until he told her to look at the engraved markings on its base.
“I always head for the books and he heads off to look for art and vintage stuff. He’s not an expert but he does have great taste and an instinct for the ‘real thing’,” she told Artnet News.
The couple bought the thrift store vase for only $3.30 USD or P174.73.
The Epsom-based couple took the vase home with them and got in touch with Canterbury Auction Galleries to get the piece authenticated. The vase was identified by the auction house as a creation of Namikawa Yasuyuki, a 19th-century cloisonné artisan and former samurai.
Cliona Gibson, co-director of the auction house, called the roughly four-inch-tall vase “astonishing.”
“The exceptionally fine work and naturalistic depiction of cockerels and hens on a black background, with birds in flight overhead, was something of a trademark of his,” she said.
Yasukui, according to Artnet, started his cloisonné art career in 1868, at the start of the Meiji era that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
From 1871 until 1874, he was employed by the Kyoto Cloisonné Company before opening his own studio and exhibiting his pieces at world fairs, including Japan's National Industrial Exhibition. He was hired as an imperial artisan at the court of Emperor Meiji in 1896, and he eventually resigned in 1915.
Some of his notable works are Japanese enamel and the first transparent black glaze, which led to the development of other transparent enamels. He used intricate wirework, eye-catching details, and geometrical motifs that mostly represent plants in varied sizes of vases.
Artnet also reported that the vase is up for an online auction on July 29 and portions of the proceeds will go to the charity that ran the thrift store where they found it.