What would you expect to find when you shop at Goodwill? Mostly household items, right? It is also an excellent place to go thrift shopping, where you might find some cheap items for DIY decors for your home.
One woman in Austin, Texas, went to a nearby Goodwill to shop for home decors, and she did. She was happy with the item she purchased. But she knew later that what she bought was valued as something more.
A pretty tabletop décor
Laura Young knew what she wanted to find – a beautiful décor that fits her budget. She found this beautiful bust which only cost $34.99 and looked perfect in her home.
She took it home with her (and fastened it with a seatbelt), and it was perfect. That was 2018, and it had sat in her living room for more than four years already. However, in those four years, she had an inkling that she was drawn to this piece for a reason.
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After all, she is an antique dealer who frequents museums and has a history degree. She had a feeling that this sculpture looked familiar, so she did a Google image search of ‘Roman marble busts’ and had the discovery of a lifetime.
2000-year-old Roman sculpture
Based on her Google search, Laura found out that it was the bust of Roman military leader Sextus Pompey. She sought further help from people who might know about this piece of artifact more than she did.
Sotheby’s further confirmed that it was indeed a 1st Century AD artwork owned by Germans. Experts traced the origin of the bust from the 1930s in a museum in Aschaffenburg. It was said that Allied forces heavily bombed that museum.
How did it get to Texas?
No one really knew how it got to Texas. According to Lynley McAlpine, a postdoctoral curator fellow of the San Antonio Museum of Art, the sculpture was placed in a Pompeii replica home commissioned by King Ludwig I.
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“It seems like sometime between when it was put into storage until about 1950, someone found it and took it,” Lynley told CNN. “Since it ended up in the US, it seems likely that some American that was stationed there got their hands on it.”
The coolest Goodwill find
Laura would always look back on this as her coolest, most valuable Goodwill find.
“He’s probably the coolest thing I’m ever going to find, the most special… There’s a history, literally owned by kings. I would love to know more where he was before I found him, but we might not find that out,” she told ABC13 Houston.
She was also happy that this historic piece of artwork would finally be seen by the public and learn more about it.
Returning to where it belongs
Laura said that it was bittersweet because she is an antique dealer, and she couldn’t sell the sculpture because she doesn’t own it. Well, she’s got some lovely photos of it in her home posted on her Instagram account – at least that counts for something.
The sculpture will be housed in the San Antonio Museum of Art for a year, and it will be open for public viewing. Then, it will be sent back to Germany, where it rightfully belongs.
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