Colorful vase Virginia woman bought for $3.99 at Goodwill store sells for $107,000 at auction: Ornament was by famous Venetian architect and sent rare glass fines wild

A Virginia woman who happened to be shopping for a vase at her local Goodwill led her to unknowingly find one of the rarest Italian works of art – which now sells for more than $100,000.

Jessica Vincent, 43, was browsing her local Goodwill when a 12-inch Murano glass vase covered in burgundy and green brushstrokes caught her eye.

She suspected there was something special about it and made a purchase for $3.99.

'It was so unusual. It had such a quality. I knew it was a good piece of glass, with the mark on the bottom,” she said. “I knew he was coming home with me.”

After some research when she got home, Vincent was shocked to learn that the piece was a 1940s design by influential Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa, part of the Pennellate series he designed for Venini, a centuries-old glass workshop on the island of Murano .

'It was so unusual. It had such a quality. I knew it was a good piece of glass with the mark on the bottom,” she said. “I knew it would come home with me.”

The piece is a 1940s design by influential Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa, part of the Pennellate series he designed for Venini, a centuries-old glass workshop on the island of Murano.

In an effort to learn more, Murano uploaded a photo of the vase to a Facebook group and became even more excited by the response.

Members rushed to help her identify the rare item – some even started offering money to buy it.

“People in the group said these are extremely rare, top shelf pieces. People only dream of owning these. They said, “I would die if I saw that in the wild.”

“It gave me chills to see all those reactions,” Vincent said.

One member even offered her $10,000 for the vase, but she declined; others suggested contacting Wright's Auction House in New York.

When it went to auction on December 13, the piece was estimated to fetch between $30,000 and 50,000, but instead sold for $107,100.

Richard Wright, founder of the auction house, said: “It is an amazing story that this highly refined piece of glass is making its way to Virginia.

“It was expensive, not mass-produced, and it fell through the cracks all the way to Goodwill. It's not even chipped.

“And this very charming woman who raises polo ponies finds it, and she's not sure what she found, but she's smart enough to do her research. She finds the Italian glass group on Facebook and is smart enough not to sell it because the first offer she gets is $10,000.”

Vincent told me Southern life: 'We had a nice telephone conversation in which he explained how rare this piece was. Then Sara (Blumberg) and Jim (Oliveira) (Wright's glass experts) drove to Richmond. They confirmed it – and at that moment I got chills.”

The piece was estimated to sell for $30,000-50,000 when it went up for auction on December 13, but instead went for $107,100.

When Vincent got home with the vase, she started researching Murano glass on Facebook and found a group

The technique on the vase – Pennellate, which means brushstroke in Italian – was 'accomplished by adding colored opaque glass to the vase as it was blown, and dragging the material around the perimeter of the piece until the desired level of transparency had been achieved'

A self-described “maximalist collector,” Vincent raises polo ponies on an old farm she recently purchased with her partner Naza outside Lynchburg

Sara Blumberg, Wright's glass specialist, explained how rare this was for the auction house: 'Never in 35 years have we had such a piece in our hands. That's really an astonishing thing to say, because as curators of the sale, we've handled thousands of pieces of glass.”

Scarpa is known for its playful but rigorous architectural style. In addition to his vase collection, some other notable works include the Castelvecchio Museum in Verona, Italy and an interior for an Olivetti typewriter shop in Venice.

At the age of 21, Scarpa began experimenting with glass. In 1932 he was invited to collaborate with Venini, where he was design director until 1946.

The technology on the vase – Pennellate, which means brushstroke in Italian – was 'accomplished by adding colored, opaque glass to the vase as it was blown, and dragging the material around the perimeter of the piece until the desired level of transparency was reaches'.

A self-described “maximalist collector,” Vincent raises polo ponies on an old farm she recently purchased with her partner Naza outside Lynchburg.

Speaking about the auction, she said: 'The money means so much to us and will do so much for our lives and for our future together.

“This has been a true blessing, and I'm so glad the vase is going somewhere where it can be safe and fully appreciated (and that it's coming out of Goodwill obscurity!)”