Woman bought plush vases at car boot sale for £7 - then found out their worth

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A woman was stunned to learn that two car boot sale vases she bought for just £7 are worth more than £1,000. Christine Rehm, 65, purchased the iridescent glassware at an event in Spain, five years ago, reports Wales Online.The bargain-hunter bought two matching vases for €8 (£7) and put them in her home she shared with husband Manfred, 69, near the Spanish city of Alicante.The pair moved back to the UK in 2021, where Christine took the ornaments to an antiques expert.Christine was amazed to learn that they were around 120 years old and were Art Nouveau pieces by renowned European manufacturer Loetz.The vases are now going under the hammer with an expected sale price of between £800-£1,200 at Richard Winterton Auctioneers in Lichfield, Staffs., on May 2.

Christine said: “I didn’t know they were valuable or what they were when I bought them. I just liked the style and particularly their colour. “The seller had marked them up for €10 but said I could have them for €8 as that’s what he’d decided to let them go for.

We’ve looked after them and kept them behind glass but I’m redoing the lounge and thought I’d see if they were worth anything. “I couldn’t believe it when I found out what they were.

I’m very glad we brought the vases back with us.”The 13cm tall vases with trefoil-shaped upper rims are from Loetz’s Phaenomen Genre.