It started like any ordinary day.
asserted
It → start → day
On a June afternoon, Jessica Vincent, 43, was browsing the shelves of a Virginia thrift store.
asserted
Vincent → browse → store
That’s when a striking vase caught her eye.
asserted
vase → ’ → eye
The bottle-shaped vase had ribbons of colours, aqua green and amethyst purple, spiralled up its glass surface like stripes of paint.
asserted
vase → shape → paint
Vincent, a horse trainer, didn’t think twice about buying the vase.
asserted
Vincent → think → vase
She paid $3.99 for it at a Goodwill.
asserted
She → pay → Goodwill
"I bought it thinking it would look beautiful in my house somewhere," she told the Associated Press.
asserted
she → buy → Press
Pic credit: Jessica Vincent/AP
Vincent has been visiting thrift stores since she was a child.
asserted
she → visit → stores
She accompanied her mother to second-hand stores, yard sales and flea markets.
asserted
She → accompany → stores
In fact, she loves thrifting so much that she goes to thrift stores a few times a week with her partner, Naza Acosta.
asserted
she → love → partner
She is obsessed with PBS’ ‘Antiques Roadshow’ and has long daydreamed about a lottery-ticket find.
asserted
She → obsess → find
So when she found a beautiful vase, she went for it.
asserted
she → find → it
The vase felt heavy in her hands.
asserted
vase → feel → hands
Though she had seen painted glass before, the colour grabbed her eyeballs.
asserted
colour → see → eyeballs
“I always felt like I had a good eye.
asserted
I → feel → eye
But I’m really surprised that nobody picked it up before I did,” she told the outlet.
asserted
she → ’m → outlet
But she had no plans to flip it when buying it.
asserted
she → have → it
“I definitely didn’t buy it thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to sell this.’”
asserted
I → buy → this
After reading Murano’s name on the vase, she posted photos on Facebook groups for glass art.
asserted
she → read → art
She also joined a private group for Murano collectors.
asserted
She → join → collectors
And one reply stopped her cold.
asserted
reply → stop → her
She learned that those pieces are very rare.
asserted
pieces → learn → ?
Every collector would love to have that.
asserted
collector → love → that
But most people cannot afford them,” one Facebook user told her.
asserted
user → afford → her
Finding such a rare piece also surprised the thrift store managers.
asserted
Finding → find → managers
Laura Faison, a spokeswoman for Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia, told the outlet the vase probably sat on the shelf for only a couple of days.
asserted
vase → tell → days
Each store handles about 2,000 new pieces daily, many arriving from car trunks.
asserted
many → handle → trunks
"It could have been someone cleaning out grandma's basement," Faison said.
uncertain
Faison → clean → basement
"We'll probably never know."
asserted
We → know → ?
The Murano written on the bottom of the vase referred to an island in Venice that has been famous for its glasswork since the 13th century.
asserted
that → write → century
Some of its highly priced pieces include ornate crystal chandeliers and mirror frames, many of which adorn the palaces of Europe’s aristocracy.
asserted
many → price → aristocracy
This particular vase was produced by the famous glass company Venini and designed by Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, who died in 1978.
asserted
who → produce → 1978
Selling the $3.99 vase for $107,100
Pic credit: Jessica Vincent/AP
Vincent was pointed to Richard Wright, president of the Wright Auction House in Chicago.
asserted
Vincent → sell → Chicago
He recognised the piece the moment her email arrived.
asserted
email → recognise → piece
“The minute I saw her email, I knew what it was and how rare it was.”
asserted
it → see → email
Scarpa, a top Italian glass designer from the mid-20th century, designed this vase as part of a series created in 1942.
asserted
Scarpa → design → 1942
The collection was called Pennellate, which means brushstroke, and was made by adding coloured opaque glass to the vase as it was blown.
asserted
it → call → vase
“It was basically a duet between Carlo Scarpa and a master blower who had to physically translate (Scarpa’s) drawings.
asserted
who → have → drawings
You have to keep rotating this vase the entire time or it’ll slump off the pipe.
asserted
it → have → pipe
While at the same time you’re applying these delicate brushes of colour that have this absolute lightness to them,” Wright explained.
asserted
Wright → apply → them
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
