A Bunny Tale

First let me say I didn’t go to my neighborhood thrift store on July 4th for their big sale. But the next day my grocery shopping trip took me past the thrift store so I had to stop in. I was a few minutes early and another waiting customer said, “I wonder if the shelves will be bare. They had a sale yesterday.”

Well, they weren’t bare, but I only bought one thing. Just one.

Here’s the story…

I walked past this twice. On my third stroll down the china/pottery aisle I noticed it–a homely little rabbit.

Such a strange-looking guy.

Frankly I’m surprised I even picked it up. I’m not a figurine person. But I was curious about it. I flipped it over and gosh, it was terracotta that had been pressed into a mold. And it was French–Bavent Normandie. Ooh la la!

I’ll admit at this point I was getting tingly. You know the feeling! Kinda excited. I was sure this was good and put it in my basket.

Turns out it was good. Really good. At home I looked up Bavent rabbit sold stats on Worthpoint (all were from eBay) and saw some surprising prices. On other sites (like 1stDibs and Chairish) they would like be even higher.

Here are some current online listings for bigger, more realistic versions. Holy smokes!

The Bavent Pottery company (La Poterie du Mesnil de Bavent) in Normandy has been around since 1842 and they still make a rabbit similar to mine. They call it a “Bunny Ball” and it’s intended to sit in your garden.

My faience (“tin-glazed earthenware of the type which includes delftware and maiolica”) rabbit with glass eyes is a bit crazed but otherwise in good condition. He is likely 70-100+ years old as the newer pieces have different brand markings. So far I haven’t found another for sale online like him!

Trying to figure out pricing was a challenge, but I’ve listed it for $350 given his age, condition and scarcity–which doesn’t seem out of the ball park.

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I realized I hadn’t had high hopes for this thrift store trip given the big sale that happened the day before, but this rabbit is likely my best find of 2021 so far. And it reminded me how I’ve gone to estate sales later in the day after tons of folks had gone through and still found good stuff. Even though the vintage reselling biz is competitive, most of us are self taught and we have different niches, passions and knowledge. Which means on any given day I can walk through a store or estate sale and spot good things that you miss and you’ll spot good things I miss! So far it seems to be working out. 😁

Wishing you happy hunting,

Karen