It’s good to put food on the plate. But it’s arguably even better when that plate is by Pablo Picasso. Now imagine you found an original Picasso plate in a thrift store – along with three more, basically for free and then you sold them for over $40,000 USD. Because that’s exactly what happened in New York not too long ago – and it might leave a lot of vintage hunters wondering if they have really really thrifted before:
Nancy Cavaliere, whose thrift adventures are well-documented on TikTok and Instagram, paid her local Salvation Army store a daily visit on a hot summer day in 2017. When she was about to leave empty-handed, the store staff began to put out new stuff – amongst them a pair of ceramic dishes that caught Nancy’s eye and that bore resemblance to the art of a certain Picasso.
@casacavaliere Picasso Picasso Picasso, abstact art on me like im ‘Luminati #viral #fyp #foryoupage #picasso #art #thrift #thrifted #thriftflip #thrifthaul #interiordesign ♬ CUFF IT – Beyoncé
Four purchased plates at $1,99 each later, Cavaliere googled the value of the set at home and ‘almost cried’: It turned out the plates were original, hand-numbered “Edition Picasso” ceramics: Those were modeled and painted between 1947 and 1971 to resemble Picasso’s first run of hand-painted “Picasso Ceramic” originals – and are incredibly sought-after, due to the relativley short time period in which they were produced in collaboration with the Spanish artist.
After contacting some of New York’s major auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s for authentication, she ended up consigning and auctioning off three of the plates for the whopping price of $16,700 USD, $12,000 USD and $15,000 USD respectively. For the whole story (and to find out why she decided to keep the one remaining plate), just watch the notorious thrifter‘s accompanying TikTop video:
@casacavaliere The craziest, wildest story ever- How I found picasso at the thrift store #storytime #picasso #artistsoftiktok #thrift #thrifted #thrifting #thriftshop #thriftflip #thrifthaul #nyc #nyclife #nyctok #tiktoknyc #goodwillfinds #auctionfinds #crazystory #christiesinc #sothebys #greenscreen #interiordesign #interiordecor #interiors #decortiktok #decortok #fashiontok ♬ New York New York (Instrumental) – Jack Ontario Soundorchestra
In the mood for more vintage treasures? Just check out our ‘City Series: NYC Vintage Stores’ guide for five hand-picked vintage stores in the Big Apple!
