A man was stunned to learn that his $4.99 vase from Goodwill was actually worth up to $100,000.
The 1920 yellow Overbeck vase was featured on an episode of Antiques Roadshow earlier this week when an unidentified guest brought it to an event in Indiana.
The owner of the piece told appraiser David Rago that he and his wife were shopping at Goodwill when he saw the “beautiful” item on a shelf.
When told it could fetch between $50,000 and $100,000 at auction, the man replied: “My heart is beating fast!”
The buyer added: “I knew it was good quality, but I didn’t know anything about it, so I picked it up and looked at it,” the owner of the vase said.
A man brought a 1920 Overbeck vase to an event that aired on Antiques Roadshow. Appraiser David Rago told him the vase would sell for between $50,000 and $100,000.
“It had brands on it and I thought, ‘Well, I don’t know who this is, but for $4.99, I’m going to buy it.'”
Rago briefly described Overbeck pottery and turned the vase over to show the owner the “OBK” mark used on nearly all of their wares.
He added that the initials “E” and “F” below “OBK” were the initials of two of the sisters who created the vase.
The potters created several pieces of work during the 1900s, and the appraiser believed the women did their best work around their “late teens and early 20s.”
The appraiser praised the vase’s design, which features “a geometric distillation.”
Rago explained that he knew there was a tree in the design because of the branches and leaves, which are shown as triangles.
The 1920 vase “falls into that alley of power,” according to Rago.
He added: “Conventionalized design is a design technique from the Arts and Crafts period that uses a geometric distillation of the original design.”
“In this design you can see the conventionality. It has a repeated design, which goes around the vase five or six times.”
The appraiser also mentioned the man running in the striped suit and the “big pink sun” shining through a tree.
Rago explained that he knew it was a tree because of the branches and leaves, which are shown as triangles.
“It’s colorful, it’s handmade, it’s crafted… It’s a really nice piece from Overbeck.”
David Rago told its owner that the initials ‘E’ and ‘F’ below ‘OBK’ were for two of the sisters who created the vase.
Overbeck pottery was produced between 1911 and 1955 by Margaret, Hannah, Elizabeth and Mary Frances Overbeck.
Much of the four sisters’ work was inspired by their surroundings, according to Waynet.
The sisters collaborated with each other on most of their pieces, and the initials “E” and “F” on the Antiques Roadshow vase represent Elizabeth and Frances.
The women won awards for their work in places like Paris, Chicago and New York, and their work is displayed in museums across the country.
Art enthusiasts can also take a look at his works at the Overbeck Pottery Museum in Cambridge.
His pieces occasionally appear on auction websites, and one of his 1915 works sold for $52,920 last April.
The expensive vase was estimated to be worth between $35,000 and $45,000 before it was purchased.
