The ultimate thrift store find: Priceless vase for $3.99
Mexico has regained a lost ancient Mayan vase from a woman in the United States, who bought the artefact for less than $5 at a thrift store.
Anne Lee Dozier recently received an expression of gratitude from the Mexican embassy in her home town of Washington DC for her role in reuniting the 1,200-to 1,800year-old vase with its motherland.
“A valuable witness of our Maya history returns home. Thanks to the generosity of Anne Lee Dozier, a US citizen, we recovered a classical vessel, dated between 200 and 800 AD. This historical gem will be reintegrated into the @INAHmx (Mexico’s National Museum of Anthropology and History) collection to preserve our rich cultural heritage,” Mexico’s ambassador to the US, Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, wrote on X on June 18.
A story published by the National
Public Radio on Friday summarized the unusual saga.
Dozier bought the vase in question in about 2019 at the 2A Thrift Store in Clinton, Maryland, where it was on a clearance shelf by the checkout register. She perceived the vase to be old but not ancient.
A human rights advocate with Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Dozier told the NPR that she had worked with Indigenous communities in Mexico, and piece seemed to have some links to the country.
“I thought it would be just a nice little thing to take home and put on the shelf and to remind me of Mexico,” Dozier, who paid $3.99 for the vase, told NPR.
In January, while on a work trip, Dozier visited the national anthropology museum in Mexico City and saw other Maya vases displayed there that bore a striking resemblance to the one she had at home, according to NPR.
She reported her thrift store find to a museum official, who in turn recommended that she call the Mexican embassy. Dozier sent pictures of the vase along with a description of its dimensions.
The national anthropology museum replied that she indeed had an authentic relic. “I got an email saying, ‘Congratulations – it’s real and we would like it back,’” Dozier said.
Barragán on X said that the vase dated back to between AD200 and 800.