Goodwill Gold: Chicago Man’s $5 Thrift Find Turns Out to Be Rare Chinese Porcelain

Images of the 18th-century Chinese armorial export plate purchased at a Goodwill thrift store for $4.99. It turned out to be worth thousands of dollars.

John Carcerano

Chicago resident and business owner John Carcerano has been buying and selling antiques on the side for over 30 years. Last October, he had what might be the find of a lifetime at a Goodwill in Evanston, Ill.: a plate he bought for $4.99 turned out to be a rare piece of Chinese export porcelain that could sell for $5,000.

Carcerano started frequenting the Goodwill store while recovering from an illness. He would look through carts of new inventory; as he told Newsweek, “by the time they make it to the shelves, most good stuff is gone.” That was where he found the plate. It was hidden underneath a modern plate and overlooked by other shoppers, but Carcerano had learned enough about Asian art to know it was worth a second look. And, at only $4.99, worth buying.

The plate proved to be a piece of Chinese export armorial porcelain. As trade between China and Europe, and later America, increased in the 18th century, Chinese porcelain makers decorated their wares with designs intended to appeal to these new foreign markets. Wealthy Europeans ordered dishes decorated with their family coats of arms. Today, these designs are collectible and often valuable. However, collectors have to be careful; many Chinese export porcelains were copied later.

Carcerano turned to online resources to check his plate’s authenticity and age. An image search with Google Lens showed that similar plates were both rare and valuable; he told Newsweek that “Only two of these have ever sold in the last 50 years of auction history,” with one selling for $4,400. Posting pictures of the plate in porcelain collectors’ groups on Facebook got comments further confirming his findings.

Carcerano also looked to the professionals. Knowing he had something rare and valuable, he contacted major auction houses including Chicago-based Leslie Hindman Auctioneers (now Freeman’s | Hindman) and international auction houses Sotheby’s and Bonhams.

In an email, a specialist from Sotheby’s dated the plate to about 1755, during the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, identified the arms as belonging to the Mendes Da Costa family and estimated the value at $4,000 to $6,000.

The Sotheby’s specialist also recognized that the arms came from a Jewish family and suggested offering the plate in an upcoming Judaica auction, which could be a first for a Chinese export plate.

Carcerano is still considering his options for selling the plate. No matter what he decides, there’s no doubt his purchase got him far more than his money’s worth.

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Tags: Collectible