10 Bananas Thrift Store Finds
Although rare, high value objects at the thrift store are not necessarily impossible to find. It typically takes a keen eye to recognize an object that seems out of place, a concept that has captured the imagination of Goodwill-goers for decades. The idea that your local thrift store may be hiding hidden treasure may seem far-fetched, but it likely did to these 10 lucky buyers of overlooked art gems as well:
Perhaps the most famous of recent thrift store finds, this Roman bust was discovered in Austin, Texas at Goodwill, listed for just $35. Upon researching the origins of the work, buyer Laura Young learned the bust was nearly 2,000 years old and likely depicted Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, Roman emperor and politican who died in 9 B.C. The work was traced back to King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who purchased the piece in 1833 from an Italian art market. The work was exhibited at the San Antonio Museum of Art until May, and was then repatriated to Germany to be displayed in its original setting.
Last month, Nancy Cavaliere was thrifting in New York City when she stumbled upon a set of plates bearing Picasso’s signature for just $6. She reached out to an auction house to get the plates authenticated, who suggested the plates could be worth $3000-$5000 each, with the 3 plates eventually fetching over $40,000 total at auction.
In London, a pair of Qing dynasty jars were found at a London charity shop for 20 pounds, later selling for 59,800 pounds at auction this spring with Rosebery’s London. The buyer’s personal interest in ceramics sparked his interest in the work, but he never imagined they could be so valuable.
4. Similarly, a rare 15th-century Chinese bowl found at a yard sale for $35 was later sold by Sotheby’s for $721,800. The seller, who requested to remain anonymous, was perusing yard sales in early 2022 near New Haven, Connecticut when he happened upon the bowl that was originally commissioned by China’s imperial court under the Ming dynasty.
5. Chandler West, owner of a vintage clothing store on Etsy, found a 1920s French Art Deco evening bag at an online estate sale for a single dollar. Although the bag wasn’t found at a traditional thrift store, estate sales can be equally successful in terms of catching high-value items. The bag came from luxury jeweler Cartier, and went on to sell for $7,500 at auction.
6. In 2022 college student Terrelle Brown found a Yoshitomo Nara ashtray for $10 at Goodwill. He immediately recognized the imagery of the maker’s portrait titled “Too Young To Die,” from 2002. Brown began researching the piece, comparing it with other listings on Ebay, and with the original packaging in tact, was able to sell the work for $2,860.
7. In 2021 a painting by music legend David Bowie was unearthed by a woman at a Canadian thrift store for only $5 CAD (around 4 USD). The semi-abstract work was made in 1997 and titled “Dhead XLVI,” and went on to break the record for Bowie’s art work at auction. It sold for $108,120 Canadian dollars.
8. In 2020, Wendy Hawkins was at the Hotline Pink Thrift Shop in Kitty Hawk, N.C. when she discovered a 1950s woodcut print created and signed by Salvador Dali. Hawkins insisted that the piece was lined up on the floor with a bunch of other paintings, ignored until she spotted what she said looked like something special. Hawkins did research to try and authenticate the piece, and with the help of an art gallery owner the two confirmed her discovery and sold the work for $1,200.
9. Although this rare chandelier by Italian sculptor Alberto Giacometti was spotted with a $700 price tag in the 1960s, the work sold in February of this year just short of $3 million. Painter John Craxton recognized the stylized fixture and had his suspicions, later contacting Christie’s to sell the highly coveted piece.
10. Similarly, in the early 1960’s, Michel Kleinbaum picked up a drawing depicting the cast of the original production of “The King and I” in his New York City neighborhood thrift store. He recognized that it had to be done by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, and for $12, he knew it was a bargain. In 2022, Kleinbaum’s son George decided to sell the work for upwards of $50,000 with the help of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation.