The Paradox of the Basano Vase
Made from Silver, with a weight of about 2kg, and looking like it came straight out of the 15th century, the vase looked nothing special. If you saw it in an antique shop, you wouldn’t give it a second glance. But, for such an unimportant object, the vase supposedly carries a horrible curse. Although most websites list it under ‘the most popular cursed objects,’ nobody knows anything about the vase’s whereabouts. However, there is something that is known…
The first mention of the vase goes back to the 15th century. Legend has it that this vase was crafted in Italy - in a small town to the North of Napoli. It was supposed to be a wedding gift for a beautiful young bride, delivered to her anonymously the night before the wedding. The woman believed that it was a sign of good luck, but the vase turned out to be the opposite. The bride was found dead the next morning, the vase clutched tightly in her cold hands. Her untimely demise was never explained. And that’s how an inexplicable chain of unfortunate incidents got started.
Soon after the bride’s death, another relative got hold of the vase. He passed away, too. The vase was passed to another relative, but the outcome didn’t change. To prevent further demise, the family decided to hide the vase away. And that’s where the story gets even more puzzling. (Didn’t think it was possible, did you?) Nobody knows how or where the vase was hidden. Some think that an enigmatic priest locked the vase away. Others suggest that the family simply buried it. Anyway, the vase was hidden for several centuries, until a man found it in his backyard.
The details of this discovery vary from story to story. However, it is clear that when the man picked the vase up, there was note in it that said:
Little did the man know that these were not just empty threats. He decided to sell the vase at an auction. The auction was successful, and a pharmacist gained ownership of the vase. Soon, he got infected by a mysterious illness. His relatives sold the vase. After that, the vase changed hands many times.
The last owner of the Basano Vase was a rich family. At first, things were the same. The owner succumbed to an unexplained illness. The family tried to sell the vase, but no one wanted it. The family wanted to get rid of the vase so much that they simply threw it out of the window. It almost hit a passing policeman. The policeman tried to return the vase, but the family wouldn’t take it. After charging them a fine for littering, he tried to give it to various museums. Word about the curse had spread, and no museum wanted the vase.
At last the policeman gave up and buried the vase somewhere secret. No one ever heard of the Basano Vase again.