Broken Flower Pot in U.K. Backyard Turns Out to Be a $66,000 Masterpiece
Sometimes, what looks like junk in the garden is actually art history in disguise.
A woman in the U.K. recently discovered that the old, broken flower pot collecting dust in her backyard wasn’t just some forgotten ceramic. It was a rare work by Hans Coper, a celebrated 20th-century ceramic artist who fled Nazi Germany during World War Two and later gained international acclaim for his modernist pottery.
Despite being in two separate pieces, the pot still fetched a jaw-dropping $66,000 at auction.
Yes, you read that right — a cracked, dirt-stained planter went from trash to treasure thanks to its artist’s legacy. Coper, whose minimalist forms and abstract designs reshaped post-war ceramic art in Britain, remains a prized name among collectors and galleries. His work rarely hits the market, and when it does, it’s worth more than its weight in gold (or in this case, terracotta).
The pot had been sitting outside for who-knows-how-long, likely mistaken for an old garden container. It was only when someone took a closer look — or perhaps asked the right appraiser — that its origins were revealed.
Auctioneers were stunned at the discovery, and even more stunned when the bidding war began. Turns out, damage doesn’t always dent value — especially when a piece has a name like Coper attached to it.
The lucky seller is now $66,000 richer, and the flower pot that once held weeds will now likely live out its days in a museum or private collection.
So next time you’re cleaning up the yard, maybe double-check that “junk” before tossing it — because in this case, broken pieces told a very valuable story.
