In a heartwarming twist worthy of any thrifty treasure hunter’s dreams, one Sydney woman has turned a $30 charity shop gamble into an eye-watering windfall, after being told her secondhand vases are worth up to $8000.
Appearing on an episode of Antiques Roadshow filmed in Sydney, the guest stunned expert John Sandon when she presented a striking vase featuring painted Highland cattle.
“I found it actually in an opportunity shop,” she explained casually, revealing she’d paid just $30 for the piece.
“For a vase like this, $30, right,” John responded in disbelief. “Did you know what you were buying?”
She didn’t. But what she’d picked up was no ordinary knick-knack. It was a piece by renowned British ceramics artist Harry Stinton, dated 1958.
“Harry was a grand old man by that stage… into his 90s,” John said. “His eyesight had gone a bit so his later work is a little bit impressionist… I think that’s some of his nicest work.”
Even better, the woman revealed she actually had two matching vases, although one had a small chip at the top.
John was floored. “Two of them for $30?! It shouldn’t be allowed!”
The pair, he estimated, would now fetch between $7000 and $8000.
The guest could barely contain her shock: “Ohhh, far out,” she said, face in hand.
Drawn in by their gold detailing, she had no idea she’d struck literal gold, proving once again that when it comes to op shop finds, you just never know what treasure awaits.
Images: Antiques Roadshow
