It’s actually just a crumpled piece of cake on a paper plate – but with “Bares for Rares” it turns out to be a rarity. That is the reason.
At the popular junk show “Bares for Rares” one or the other curiosity has already been presented. There is also an extraordinary object to be examined in the latest episode. What’s the deal with the piece of cake behind a plexiglass pane?
The 36-year-old Dominik from Hanover brought the item with him. “I’m selling this for a friend,” he explains to moderator Horst Lichter and expert Detlev Kümmel. The story of how the friend got hold of the rarity is extraordinary: this was once a wine dealer and he also sold it to an artist from Hanover.
The story of the precious piece of cake
She was no longer able to pay her bill, but knew that Dominik’s friend was interested in art and offered him a piece of cake on a paper plate in exchange. Because there is a special story behind it: it was offered in October 1982 in Berlin at an exhibition by Joseph Beuys, the performance artist who died in 1986.
“Then she probably took the opportunity to speak to Joseph Beuys, handed him this plate and he then applied a signature here,” speculates expert Kümmel, pointing to a signature and the dedication to “Rosa” on the edge of the paper plate. The whole thing is evidenced by an invitation that invited to the event at the time and is now on display in the box next to the piece of cake.
The object is undoubtedly something special – but in the end “just” an unusual autograph and not a real work of art by Beuys. Nevertheless, Kümmel estimates the expertise at a whopping 800 to 1,200 euros. “That’s good for a signed paper plate, isn’t it?” Dominik jokes before he is allowed to take the object to the dealers.
These are quite interested in the rarity and start the bidding duel directly with 200 euros. In the end, Walter “Waldi” Lehnertz prevailed and bought Dominik’s autograph for 800 euros.
