An ancient Mayan vase, purchased by an American woman for four dollars at a flea market in the United States, has just been returned to Mexico and will now reside in Mexico City’s main museum.
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With our correspondent in New York, Carrie Nooten
Anne Lee Dozier fell for this little vase that was next to the cash register – sold for four dollars, among the sale items, in a thrift store in Maryland five years ago. Mainly because it reminded him of Mexico – she who had worked with indigenous Mexican communities.
Indeed, the pottery looked Ancient, but she thought it had been made thirty years earlier, at most. However, last January, when she was sent to Mexico by her employer, she visited the National Museum of Anthropology, discovered the Mayan vases and found that they looked strangely like her own.
“ Congratulations, it’s a real one »
Once she returned home, she sent dimensions and photos of her pottery to the Mexican embassy, and the museum responded directly by email: “ Congratulations, it’s a real one, we’d like it back ! »
The vase has been dated between 200 and 800 years AD. Anne Lee Dozier did not hesitate for a second, for her, returning a relic with such historical value was priceless and she says she never considered selling it or putting it at auction. She said she was especially relieved that in five years, none of her three sons had broken the pottery!
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