National Thrift Shop Day 2025!
It's National Thrift Shop Day!
You just know I'll be celebrating! Of course I tend to celebrate thrift shopping every day.
My local Goodwill stores are giving double the loyalty points today, plus I'll get extra loyalty points for my birthday. That means a trip to the Goodwill Bins is in order later.
One of my favorite things to find in thrift stores is artwork. You may be surprised just how much nice stuff is out there for a few dollars. These are a few pieces that stand out to me. All shown unframed.
Oldest
Black Chat, hand-colored lithograph, 1884
75¢ St. Vincent de Paul
75¢ St. Vincent de Paul
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The Bookworm, color plate No. 410, c1850 (created the same year as the original painting by Carl Spitzweg)
Goodwill $6.11 in frame
Goodwill $6.11 in frame
The Chelsea Pensioner, hand-colored copper-plate engraving, c1826
St. Vincent de Paul $4.50
An Opossum of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmanian Opossum), copperplate engraving, 1785
From the French edition of Captain James Cook's third voyage official account. In the English version of the book, published the year before, this was the first known printed illustration of the animal. From a yard sale, one of seventeen pieces of art for $18.00 I have another engraving from Cook's third voyage, A Man of Kamtschatka Travelling in Winter, from eBay, so not a thrift shop find to share in this post.
From the French edition of Captain James Cook's third voyage official account. In the English version of the book, published the year before, this was the first known printed illustration of the animal. From a yard sale, one of seventeen pieces of art for $18.00 I have another engraving from Cook's third voyage, A Man of Kamtschatka Travelling in Winter, from eBay, so not a thrift shop find to share in this post.
Most Surprising Find
The Eye of God, by Salvador Dali, offset lithograph, hand-signed in the margin. Plate-signed too, which is part of the printed image. This was personally signed by the artist.
Another part of the $18 for seventeen pieces at a yard sale. You may think a Dali would be valuable, however, while a hand-signed is worth more than one with only the signature in the plate, Dali was quite prolific. He even signed blank paper before it was printed. Plate-signed sell for under $200.
Another part of the $18 for seventeen pieces at a yard sale. You may think a Dali would be valuable, however, while a hand-signed is worth more than one with only the signature in the plate, Dali was quite prolific. He even signed blank paper before it was printed. Plate-signed sell for under $200.
Most Valuable
A Bañarse, by Argentinian artist Juan Santiago Corbacho - original painting
A leftover estate sale item donated to a local horse rescue for their ongoing yard sale - $10.00
A leftover estate sale item donated to a local horse rescue for their ongoing yard sale - $10.00
Palo Fierro Tree (my name for it), an unsigned, untitled, large original painting. I paid up for this one at St. Vincent de Paul. $25.00 Even unsigned, a painting of this size, an American southwest landscape, could be worth $1,000 - $1,400.
My Favorites
The two above, but not for their value. I would not pay $25 at a thrift store unless I absolutely loved the art. Also, some favorites were bargains.
Guanajato, by Edward Enriquez, ©1995
I rescued this from the Goodwill Bins. The artist had a website until earlier this year. He was based in southern CA.
Pompei La Corsa (Pompei the Race) by Roberto Scognamiglio (1883-1965), watercolor painting circa early 1900s. There are several artists who painted in this style. The scenes are taken from actual motifs found in the ruins of Pompeii.
Another of the seventeen pieces for $18.00. These little watercolors sell for around $150.00. I still have to get this framed, it's an odd size. That kind of sale has never happened before or since!
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A Canal in Belgium, unknown artist, possibly Robert Van Der Vinck Collotype, a gelatin-based photographic printing process, popular into the 1920s.
St. Vincent de Paul $1.75
Huh... I never realized how much others were listed for. Perhaps this should be under "Most Valuable."
Chartres, France, with Chartres Cathedral in background, lithograph from a painting by Constant Leon Duva
Based on the label on the back it is suggested this is from the 1940s, although the address given is the original location of the publishers and they moved before the '40s. Perhaps they kept using their old labels after they moved.
Found in the Goodwill Bins, unframed, so cost me basically nothing at the then price of $1.59 lb.
That's all I'll bore you with today, National Thrift Shop Day!
Don't think you'll only find stained and ripped clothing, broken toys, chipped dishes, and amateur art in thrift stores!
Wow those are amazing finds!
ReplyDeleteSome of my best and favorites!
DeleteYou are knowledgeable enough to know the great finds from the junk. One can always hope for the big score - looks like you've had at least a couple, plus a whole lot of fun hunting. Happy National Thrift Shop Day to you!
ReplyDeleteI pick up a lot of junk too! Either I like it regardless of it being junk (you remember that lady in orange, I don't think you like her!), or I "save" it and donate it to St. Vincent de Paul. They don't have the amount of donations Goodwill does, so keep things, forever as far as I can see!
DeleteWow! All these pieces are remarkable!!! My mom had a frame print of the little Pompei angels…
ReplyDeleteThey are so quaint! It's hard to tell one artist's work from another without the signature. This has it, so I'm sure. Also, he wrote on the back it was a watercolor and signed it too.
Delete