Thanks to the vigilance of an eagle-eyed employee, an earthenware dish signed by Pablo Picasso was found at the branch of the Kringwinkel second-hand shop in Antwerp. The dish has since been auctioned off on the shop's website for 12,600 euro. It’s not the first time that a piece by a famous artist has been found at the Antwerp Kringwinkel. Previously an engraving by the painter James Ensor was found there. This was donated to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp.
The dish had arrived at Kringwinkel with some other household objects. It could easily have gone unnoticed and ended among the thousands of other items on sale for just a couple of euro. However, a vigilant staff member spotted the Madoura workshop stamp on the back of the dish. This mean that it was an authentic and valuable piece from the hand of Pablo Picasso.
Team manager Davy Van Bastelaere oversees the Kingwinkel’s auction department told VRT News that “It's a beautiful work. It required knowledge and training to spot it though.” The Antwerp Kringwinkel invests in training of its staff.
Kringwinkel's Head of Sales and Marketing Lander Janssens told VRT News “We offer all kinds of training courses. Dutch language courses, for example, but also courses to learn special skills required for recognising quality items among the vast flow of goods that we receive”.
Everything is screened. "We quickly examine every item that comes in to check that it is still in order and saleable. Sometimes we discover that certain items valuable or are unique. Our staff are trained to do this”.
The dish is in very good condition. It is white earthenware with brown-green decoration in engobe (clay or clay powder), enamel and oxidised paraffin. On the back of the dish are two stamps: “Madoura Plein Feu” and “Empreinte Originale de Picasso”.
Mr Janssens adds that “We have of course made further checks, as of course anyone could put a stamp. But it turned out to be an original. It's a relief design featuring a bullfight that was designed in 1953".
Reportedly, 200 of the dishes were produced by the Madoura ceramics workshop in Vallauris, France.
Sold at auction
The Picasso's dish has since been sold on Kringwinkel’s auction site, uwkringding.be. On the site you can find antiques, vintage items, household appliances, but also comic book series that are no longer available in the shops and have become collector’s items.
The dish was bought by Johan, who paid 12,600 euro for it. John is happy with his purchase and happy to help the social economy in general and Kringwinkel in particular. "I really support the Antwerp Kringwinkel as an organisation. I know what it means to grow as a person when you are given a chance. They give people chances," Johan explains. “In future, I will definitely continue to bid on uwkringding.be