24 April 2023 , 22:09
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A woman's car boot vases she picked up for less than a tenner were revealed to be sought-after collectibles dating back 120 years.
Bargain hunter Christine Rehm spotted the quirky iridescent glass vases at the event in Spain five years ago while living near Alicante.
Not thinking they were anything special at the time, the 65-year-old put the €8 (£7) ornaments on her mantlepiece.
But when Christine and husband Manfred, 69, moved back to the UK in 2021, she decided to get the vases valued in case they were worth something.
An antiques expert told Christine her vases were original Loetz - an Art Nouveau glass designer in pre-war Bohemia - could expect to fetch up to £1,200 at auction.
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The small glass vases are now going under the hammer starting at £800, more than 110 times the price Christine handed over.
"I didn’t know they were valuable or what they were when I bought them," said Christine.
The vases date back 120 years (RichardWintertonAuctioneers/SWNS)"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. Known as PG29, they date back to 1900 when Loetz art glass was at its “pinnacle of greatness”.
Sarah Williams, senior valuer with Richard Winterton Auctioneers, said: "This was during the Art Nouveau period and is the period of manufacture that is most prized by collectors today. The Phaenomen Genre’s main characteristic is the rippled or feathered design on the surface of the object.
"This was achieved by wrapping hot glass threads around a molten glass base and then the threads were pulled on the surface to create the designs whilst all the materials were still malleable. The technique was patented in 1898."
Loetz grew to produce some of the world’s most outstanding examples of Art Nouveau.
Christine and Manfred Rehm pictured when they were living in Spain near Alicante (RichardWintertonAuctioneers/SWNS)The factory survived the First World War, the Great Depression and three factory fires but ultimately closed completely in 1947.
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Sarah added: "Several other glass manufacturers are also synonymous with the Art Nouveau, a style in the decorative arts that covered the 1890s to the start of the First World War. These include Tiffany, Gallé, Daum and Lalique.
"Glass lent itself well to the sinuous and naturalistic forms that the style was inspired by and suited the iridescent glass well, especially when combined with metalwork including silver, silver plate, bronze, and pewter."