Woman drills hole in vase to make it into a lamp.
Vase was ancient Chinese porcelain.
The hole reduced the value of the lamp by, oh, half a million dollars.
It's a nice looking lamp, though.
DIY didn't "go bad", it went "stupid". The actual DIY project sounds like it was entirely successful.
Still a bigger screwup than I think I've made so far-- but down near the end of the article, after leading with "Hole drilled in vase costs owner £250K" and giving the current value as £20,000. . .
the article says; "it would have been worth £250,000 without the hole and if it had been accompanied by its matching pair. "
My math & general knowledge of antiques says a single vase was probably 'only' worth £110,000 or so- less the £20,000 that she got it appraised for and we're left with £90,000. Google converts that to $178,551 USD today. Not exactly chump-change, but not 1/2 million, either.
Jim
Yeah. The math troubled me too. I wonder if she has the other vase?
First, the article states it would only be worth £250,000 if it had been accompanied by it's matching pair. We can't just assume a single vase would be worth half as much.
In any case, I always have to laugh when I hear things like "this will be worth something someday". That priceless object you hang onto isn't worth a penny until you sell it. Until then, it's just a piece of junk taking up space. "Potential" value won't pay the bills.
What's the old saying, "one man's junk is another man's treasure"? If the vase worked better as a lamp for the woman, I say she found her treasure. Otherwise it was just an ugly vase passed down through the family.
Anthony
The other half of the pair is probably being used as a catch for when changing oil in the car
That really totally hurts. Ouch!
Shrug. And if everyone had saved their copy of 'Action Comics Superman #1', they'd be worth about 10 bucks, probably. You glossed over where it said a matched set would be worth 250k pounds.
The value of collectibles is only meaningful if you have a rich buyer that wants it, as many people with dollar signs in their eyes have learned the hard way. Remember beanie babies?
As to the vase- well, if you're into that stuff, I guess it is pretty, but I'd never pay Art Collector prices for something like that, even if I was rich. Whoever buys it will probably just keep that side turned to the wall, or something, and nobody will ever notice.
-- aem sends...
The amount of money isn't the important thing (other than it was a lot). It's the notion of taking something lovely (to somebody) and ruining it for the connoisseur while turning it in to some horrid, utilitarian bit of crap.
My ex-wife PAINTED a walnut bookcase with some hideous, oil-based, exterior concoction. I wasn't about to wait until she turned my lucky bowling ball into a pair of bookends to match.
HeyBub wrote: ...
But it may have been nothing more than a chamber pot originally, anyway, and it's only the pretentious that have turned it into something other than a bit of utilitarian earthenware...
--
aemeijers wrote in news:sA7ek.114650$ snipped-for-privacy@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:
Oh heck. I'm not a sports fan but 5 cent packs of baseball cards were a big thing when I was a tyke. It was cool to clip them to the bike forks with a wooden clothespin so they hit the spokes and made a cool flapping noise.
Mickey Mantle, Roger Marris & Willy Mays powered my old Raleigh bike. Vaaaaarooooom!
On Sat 12 Jul 2008 09:30:39p, Red Green told us...
Sounds like you're from my era!
Yah, but now it is a leaky chamber pot...
David.
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