we hit an estate sale about 5 years ago - it was professionally run and most all of the furniture and nice china and glassware was priced a the high end of ebay prices - with the feeling that there is always something for you, wherever you go - rod began to look in the many jewelry and silver cases - we had spent some recent spare moments researching and learning about different silversmiths - one of the people we learned about was william spratling ..
so rod is looking in the cases and notices an odd little duck bill shaped object and asks to view it - it is priced $5 - as he turns it over, he notices an unmistakable william spratling mark - the object is a duck bill shaped bottle opener - taking a chance that it might be an actual william spratling piece and not one faked - there are fakes out there -
we bought the item - did not ask for a discount, just paid the price marked and thanked the professional estate sales person and left - we got it home and did more research and discovered it was in fact a william spratling piece - at the time we were listing quite heavily on ebay - however, we could not find any items like this odd little piece .. so we listed it and started it at 99 cents with no reserve ..it ended at $657.00 ..
sometimes, i wish we had kept it .. but times being what they were, the money came in very handy - i like to think of it as a time when 'god winked at us' ..
be sure and check out all of the silver sunday blog posts and also a big thanks to beth @ gypsy fish journal for hosting silver sunday ..
off to sew at the warehouse ..
laters,
troy
wanted to add pics of the 4 slipcovers all done - i know you are probably tired of seeing the slipcovers - but i am real pleased with them - it has been awhile since i sewed and honestly, i wasn't sure if i still 'had it' - so i was a little scared about getting back to sewing, but i guess it's like most things - you don't really forget - not really - anyway, the chairs will all be painted an off white and they will be around a small white round table - if you were at canton last month you may have seen the table - it was missing a small section on one edge - but it didn't sell, so they brought it back to the warehouse and rod made the repair and honestly you can't really tell it was ever missing ..
What a lucky find! This is one of the reasons that keeps my out there searching for that long discarded valuable piece....love that kind of surprise!Thanks for coming today...see you next Sunday!
ReplyDelete{{gypsy hugs}}
Beth
Wow! What an awesome discovery and a great story!
ReplyDeleteWow, good thing you recognized that mark! That's a great story!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful Silver Sunday!
Hugs and love,
Julia
Such a find...good eye! What an unusual piece. Thanks for sharing, see you next SS
ReplyDeleteGale
Woo-hoo! I love eBay/junking stories like that. :) Way to do your research and take a risk!
ReplyDeleteI love how your research paid off for you! OK, I'm convinced always keep looking! What a great story!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great treasure hunting story! Your efforts paid off! Love the slipcovers! ~LA
ReplyDeleteI just love finding pieces for next to nothing and then finding out that they're real treasures! Good for you!
ReplyDeleteLove those slipcovers. Great job!!!
Hugs,
Donna
Great find...and wow, that was worth the $5.00! I would have walked right by!
ReplyDeleteTroy,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great find the duck bill was.
Who would think it would go for that much?
thanks for coming by and leaving a comment.
blessings
barbara jean
PS Off to see what else is going on in your world. =))
That is a great story! I love reading stories like this where you purchase a treasure for a great price and then find out the true value. Congrats on that one!
ReplyDeleteJane
I love stories like that. It helps to inspire the rest of us, that there are still treasures to be had. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great find you lucky duck :) I also love your slipcovers and I am so jealous that you can sew and I don't even think I know how to turn on my own sewing machine that is still sitting brandnew in the box that it came in 4 years later :) Besos, Rose
ReplyDeleteThose are the rare moments, aren't they. I guess you never know. i once had that happen to me with an oil painting I sold on Ebay. I've never been so excited.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by,
Kathleen
Yep, it sure looks like you've still got "it" with those slipcovers! If I didn't have the demon cat from hell that likes to scratch 'em up, I'd buy a set from you.
ReplyDeleteI love stories like the one you shared, what a rush to score something like that!
Anne
That was a great story, loved reading it! Isn't it thrilling when something like that happens? I once bought a little porcelain dog figurine for .25 and sold it for $150.00. Not quite as good a story as yours, but it sure was exciting for me.
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat story. I thoroughly enjoyed your post. It's always good to see people blessed in this way. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Wowzers! What a lucky find that was. Something like that happened to me and hubby also. I was poking around in a antique store that was going out of business. In an old wooden file cabinet was a lot of vintage papers and emphemera. I found an old menu from the Lakawanna railroad. A hamburger was like .20
ReplyDeleteI paid $3 for it, and sold it on e-bay for 64.00!! I was shocked. You just never know what treasures you will find.
Debbie
I love that it was a genuine Spratling and for only for 99¢! Just goes to show that a little research can really help you out. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun story! Nice to find a good buy and then make a profit on it. Good for you! I saw an exhibit of William Spratling silver a few years ago. I was quite taken with some of the flatware he made. All beautiful work though. ~ Sarah
ReplyDelete