A British couple earned a return of almost 1,500% when a pair of iridescent Art Nouveau vases they bought for £8 ($10) at a garage sale sold for £1,200 (1 $500) to Auctioneers Richard Winterton in Lichfield, UK, on May 2.
The vases were found to be antiques from around 1900, made by Loetz, an art glass manufacturer active in the Bohemian region of Austria-Hungary from 1836 to 1947.
Christine Rehm, 65, and her husband, Manfred Rehm, 69, spotted the vases five years ago while living in Spain near Alicante. When the seller agreed to cut the £10 asking price by 20%, the couple bought them to display on their mantelpiece.
When they returned to the UK in 2021 after 15 years abroad, they brought the vases with them and took them to Richard Winterton for an appraisal at one of their weekly events at Burton Market Hall in East Staffordshire.
Christine and Manfred Rehm during their years in Spain. Photo courtesy of Richard Winterton Auctioneers, Lichfield, UK
“I just liked the style and especially their color,” Christine Rehm told the Mirror. “We took care of them and kept them behind glass but I’m redoing the living room and thought I’d see if they were worth anything. I couldn’t believe it when I found out what they were. I’m so glad we brought the vases back with us.
Featuring trefoil-shaped top edges and a swirling design, the PG29 vases are an example of Loetz’s Phaenomen genre, the most coveted period for collectors of antique glassware, as it represents the “peak of greatness” of the ‘business.
“The main feature of the Phaenomen Genus is the wavy or feathery pattern on the object’s surface,” said Sarah Williams, senior appraiser at Richard Winterton Auctioneers. Mirror. “This was achieved by wrapping hot glass threads around a base of molten glass, then the threads were pulled across the surface to create the patterns while all the materials were still malleable. The technique was patented in 1898.
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