Thrift-Store Vase Bought for $8 Turns Out to Be Valuable Piece of Art

A man in Ottawa, Canada, has shared how he stumbled on an incredible find in a local thrift store.

Casually browsing the aisles of Value Village, Andy discovered a vase priced at $7.99. He was amazed to see that it appeared identical to a piece attributed to the family of Italian glass artist Angelo Barovier.

“I found the vase quite by accident. I wouldn’t call myself a regular thrifter, but if I happen to be passing by a thrift store and have a few minutes, I’ll stop in. I’ve come across some great finds like this vase,” Andy told Newsweek.

He quickly snapped up the vase and, before long, had found an identical version posted online and listed for CA$1,254.64 [$921] on the site 1st Dibs.

Andy said that such valuable items often end up in thrift stores because people clear out their parents’ homes during downsizing. “That ‘same old stuff’ from the 1970s and 1980s that has no value to them has a great deal of value to others,” he said. “Such is my fantasy as to how that vase came to be in a Value Village store for $7.99.”

The vase is attributed to renowned Barovier family. Born around 1400 in Venice, Angelo Barovier was raised in a family with a long tradition of glass working, and he became the best-known member of the family, uniting generations of knowledge as both an artist and a scientist. Original Barovier pieces can sell for huge amounts ranging from hundreds of dollars to upward of $20,000, depending on their rarity and condition.

After taking the vase home, Andy decided to share it with others on Reddit’s r/ThriftStoreHauls community.

“Damn! Awesome find!” wrote one commenter, while another posted: “Great find! Enjoy.”

Others weren’t as friendly, telling Andy the vase was certainly a knockoff and questioning the value.

“The reaction to this particular post was surprising to me. Some people were really quite nasty about my valuation source. I didn’t say it was worth $1,200, but rather that I just found a listing somewhere else that showed what somebody was asking,” Andy said.

Despite the backlash, an antiques dealer, who saw his post about the find, offered him $450 for it. “I thought it was a joke, but he asked for my email address and e-transferred me 50 percent. He came later that afternoon with the other 50 percent—by coincidence, he lived about an hour away from me,” Andy said.

This isn’t the first time a thrift-store find has proven to be valuable. In 2023, a woman found a genuine Picasso for just $6 in a New York City thrift store.