We’ve all seen an episode of Antiques Roadshow in which someone’s dusty attic find is appraised for much higher than first expected. But we never imagine it happening to us. When Virginia-based vintage object aficionado Jessica Vincent pulled down a coloured glass vase she spotted on the shelf at her local Goodwill thrift store, she had no idea that she was uncovering one of the rarest examples of famed 20th-century designer Carlo Scarpa’s limited-run ‘Pennellate’ series.
Carlo Scarpa ‘Pennellate’ vase: a treasure rediscovered
She purchased it for a mere $2, but after discovering a Murano label on the bottom, decided to go through an authentication process and eventually identified what she’d found. The rare object just sold for a whopping $107K during a special Wright auction house sale of important Italian glass, held in New York on 13 December 2023. Vincent, a full-time Polo pony breeder based outside of Richmond, made a profit that was $50K over the initial estimate.
'Wright has consistently produced the most important Italian glass auctions over the past decade,' says Richard Wright, the auction house's founder. He and the team from expert platform Glass Past travelled to Vincent’s home to verify the piece for themselves, after she’d shared images of the vase on various Facebook groups and was advised to reach out to them directly. They were able to corroborate her research. 'In our latest iteration, we are proud to include this rare masterpiece from the “Pennellate” series by Carlo Scarpa. This form has never before appeared at auction. Unearthed from obscurity at a Goodwill in Virginia, this exceptional piece has a captivating story.'
A legendary polymath that tried his hand at almost every creative discipline, Venice-born Scarpa first began collaborating with Murano Glass producer Venini in the 1930s. This limited-run series (there is only one other known work still on record) stemmed from his close experimental collaboration with the heritage brand’s glassblowers. The name ‘Pennellate’ references the brushstroke pattern that was achieved by not painting the glass but rather, adding hued opaque glass to the clear vase as it was being blown and swirling the material around the circumference of the piece. Scarpa tested out innumerable colour combinations. Vincent’s discovery features a masterful, otherwise unlikely, pairing of an almost iridescent vermilion and mint green.
