A “Fine Fettle” Thrift Store Haul

I had a coffee date a few towns over this morning so I decided to do a little thrifting beforehand. Popped into my neighborhood thrift store and by golly I’m glad I did. One thing I picked up had just been put on the shelves and two others I picked off a cart that had just rolled out from the back room! (Over and over I’ve realized how important it is make frequent visits and not be discouraged by all the times I walk out empty handed.)

First pick was this large, heavy brass lidded urn from India…vintage, but not very old. Still a nice thing, and dare I say, it would make a handsome funeral urn.

The next bit was a small Polish dish by Kalich, Boleslawiec, and signed Anna Kos (artist or owner?). It’s about as sweet as can be and in perfect condition.

I’m tempted to give to this an elderly woman I visit. She loves this type of Polish pottery and uses it every day.

But the jewel in crown for this trip was this vase.

I saw it on the cart and thought, darn that looks cool. I picked it up and flipped it over and saw the marks on the bottom. This was good, really good–a Royal Copenhagen Denmark Fajance piece.

Turns out it’s by Nils Thorsson. I found a similar one for sale on Sotheby’s for $750! What?! Is that realistic??

I checked on WorthPoint and a similar one sold in 2018 for $55 on eBay. I’m guessing a more realistic price lies somewhere between these two. [Did some more research and am listing mine in the same price range as two others I found on Etsy.]

Then after my coffee date I spotted a small thrift store across the street from my parked car. All the times I’d been to this city and never knew it existed. (How had this store never shown up in my Google searches? ) It was a boutique thrift store but their prices were pretty good and they were having a 50% off sale!!! One of the staff said I should have been there the other day when they had a lot more items. Still, I found a couple of things.

Like this cute bundle of six embroidered napkins for $1.50! I opened up them up at home. They are unused and likely cocktail napkins.

And this little studio pottery fat-lava style vase.

It’s unsigned but I think it’s quite wonderful. Something about these earthy pieces draws me in. I’ll likely keep this for a time. 🙂

My total for today was about $19 and I couldn’t be happier with these thrift-store finds. A fellow picker has been encouraging me to go to more estate sales to find good stuff, but the truth is I still find good things at my local thrift stores and my visits there are more time and money efficient. Don’t get me wrong I love going to estate sales and will continue to do so, but right now they are still a smaller part of my sourcing.

Well, it’s a beautiful afternoon here in Silicon Valley and I need to get outside and soak it in. Later gators!

Happy hunting,

Karen