This is just one of those thrifting stories I'm going to love telling over and over again.
Curtis Jere pieces have been on my radar for awhile. I knew owl pieces were good. In fact, this little owl that I found a couple years ago that I blogged about here, has at times been attributed to Jere, but it wasn't signed. I scan the metal section of thrift stores regularly since it seemed that the pieces could get overlooked. They're metal wall or table art/sculptures and harder to find than I expected. Most pieces I've seen end up being by Homco or Made in Taiwan.
So yesterday, when I had an appointment to buy a Lane mid century end table for my living room and was all ready to head to it (it was about 45 minutes away) I got a text from the seller telling me about some damage she had forgotten to disclose. After a few exchanges and pictures sent to the carpenter hubby..it was a no-go. But I had just picked up a friend to go with me and the kiddos were loaded so we said..."let's go thrifting anyway!" We decided to drive up to the Goodwill we were planning on going to anyway.
Just about the first thing I see when I walk in was this big metal sculpture and it was love at first sight. I didn't even imagine it was a Jere piece, I just thought it was cool and that it would sell. Vintage metal art sells. And if it didn't...I'd find a spot to keep it. Plus the price was right! (very surprising in that overpriced Goodwill!)
I gave a quick scan on the back to see if the C. Jere signature jumped out at me (it looks like it's written in Sharpie) but wasn't surprised not to see it.
I loaded it into my woefully too small cart and spent the next 45 minutes trying not to impale my 6 year old who, with the uncanny-ness of a 6 year old...gravitated toward the front of my cart every 30 seconds. I was also trying not to rip any clothing or give any other shoppers their Christmas goose early!
Finally wrangled it into the car and listened to it rattle the whole way home. I remember remarking to my friend that we didn't find anything amazing (stopped at another Goodwill on our way home where I bought a hole punch, hot rollers and a couple spoons...whoohoo) but that it was still fun.
This morning I pulled it out again, just to see if I could find that Jere signature hiding on the back of one of the trees or hidden somewhere. No dice.
So then I decided to hang it up on a hook in our stair landing just to see what it looked like on a wall and maybe take a few snaps for you blog readers. And what jumps out at me?
What's that? No kidding...I discovered what a "sharp intake of breath" really sounds like. See it?
Aaahhhh! The signature was on the FRONT!! Hilarious. There I was tooling around Goodwill, not even realizing what was in my cart. :)
I'm still researching it and I'll have to figure out how much shipping will be before I list it. But for now it looks pretty good on my wall.
