Woman finds piece of art history on sale for $8
It’s every thrifter’s dream to find something in an op shop that is being sold for far less than it’s worth.
Many frequent their local thrift shops to find hidden treasures from designer brands with a much more reasonable price tag, finally giving them the chance to own a piece of luxury.
One experienced thrift shopper has taken this dream to the next level, after she found a series of ceramic dishes in her local Salvation Army store that are a piece of art history.
Nancy Cavaliere, a native New Yorker, has shared the story of her ultimate thrifting experience, which began on her way home from work in the summer of 2017.
Nancy recalled stopping by the store and browsing for a while before resigning herself to defeat after not snagging a bargain.
“I see nothing. I almost leave,” she said in her now-viral TikTok.
However, one more peruse past the china aisle was all Nancy needed for something to catch her eye, as she spied four unusual black plates with geometric faces hand-painted on them, with each plate marked with a $1.99 sticker.
“I was going to buy them to make a tablescape,” Cavaliere said in the video.
She bought the plates and left the store happy, and began to research her purchase once she got home.
The plates, it turned out, belonged to Picasso’s “Visage Noir” series of hand-painted ceramics, produced in a pottery studio in the southern French town of Madoura in the 1940s.
“When I tell you I googled this set… and saw how much they were worth and almost cried, passed out—I’m not lying,” Cavaliere said.
Nancy then contacted several auction houses in New York, such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s, to have the plates appraised and authenticated.
She was told they were each worth $3,000 to $5,000, and the following year, she sold three of her four plates at Sotheby’s for roughly $12,000, $13,000, and $16,000, respectively.
“I was in my office at my lunch break watching this live auction go down, crying my eyes out,” she said.
The fourth piece, which bears Picasso’s signature, Nancy decided to keep and store in a safe deposit box.
Cavaliere plans to sell it in 20 years and give the money to her daughter, perhaps for a trip around Europe.
“It’s crazy,” she said, “that I actually own something that Picasso signed for himself.”
Image credits: Instagram