The Basano Vase

The story of the Basano Vase is thought to originate either near to or within Napoli, Italy. Very little is known about the vase, or it's story, and it seems like the legend has been passed down purely through word of mouth. Apparently only one picture exists of the real vase, and there are no personal experiences or eyewitness accounts. All people know is the rumour of a curse which follows the vase wherever it goes. It's said that whoever owns the Basano Vase dies within three months of owning it, and this all started when an Italian bride was discovered dead while holding the vase. Today, no one knows where the vase is; but people have speculated that it could be buried or hidden within cemetery grounds.

History

It's important to stress that very little fact is known about the Basano Vase. There is a somewhat consistent story to it's life, but there are no names and very few dates which are known. It's said that the vase was cast from silver during the 15th century, also known as the 1400s, and had a simple design to it. This vase is said to weigh four pounds and there is only one picture which exists of it, and that picture is used as the thumbnail to this article with a filter applied over it. The image will also be featured again, but without the filter, later on in the article.

The story of the vase begins during the 1400s, with some sources saying the late 1400s, when an Italian bride was discovered to be dead while holding it. Some sources say that the vase was gifted to her by it's maker, some say it was just a random wedding gift to her, and other sources say that it was intended to be a gift for the groom from the bride. Some more sources have also suggested that the bride may have made the vase herself. Sources also differ a little about when the bride died as some say she was found dead on her wedding night, but others say she was found dead in the early morning of the wedding day. They also differ with details about where exactly the bride was from as some say she lived in a small village close to Napoli, in Italy, but others say she lived within Napoli.

Even the circumstances around her being discovered vary a little with some sources claiming her to be dead and found by her groom, and others say she was alive for long enough that people heard her dying words which vowed she would have her revenge. The only consistent details are that an Italian bride unexpectedly died while holding the Basano Vase. The bride's death was the first of many which built the vase a reputation of being cursed. As so little is known own about the origins of the vase, it's unclear if the vase was already cursed and possibly sent to the bride as a threat, or if it's the bride's potential murder which caused for the bride's vengeful spirit to haunt the owners of whoever owned the vase.

Following the bride's death, the vase was handed from person to person within her family. It's said that with each new owner, a new mysterious death occurred. This chain of death stopped when the family decided to hide the vase in a secret location with sources being undecided on exactly where this location was. These sources have speculated it could have been hidden in a family house, or that it was instead buried either underground or in consecrated soil. Some sources have said that this choice to hide the vase came about after the family eventually sought the advice of a priest. These sources have said it was the priest who recommended for the family to bury it on hallowed ground for the reasons of it preventing the curse from affecting any other family members.

Some of those who believe a priest became involved believe that the vase was buried near to the priest's parish, but others believe it was buried in a cemetery and possibly with it's most recent owner. It's also important to mention that there are sources that seem to imply that the vase may have been disposed of by the family very soon after the bride's death. These sources say that after her murder, the vase was kept in a church and not buried. As there is no time frame mentioned, it's still possible that it passed through her family for a while before maybe being kept inside a church.

No matter what exactly happened to the vase following the bride's death during the 1400s, it seemingly disappeared until the year of 1988. The circumstances around the Basano Vase resurfacing also vary a little with some saying it was dug up in a back garden during landscaping or garden work, but others say it just reappeared out of nowhere. The man who gained it during this year seems to have survived the 'curse' too as they sold the vase despite a warning they found inside it. This warning was in the form of a piece of paper which had 'Beware... This vase brings death' written on it. The warning was discarded, and the vase was sold for four million Lira; Italy's currency at the time. This amount is said to have been the equivalent of either $2,270 or $2,540.

The first buyer, who paid the amount mentioned above, is said to have been a pharmacist who owned the vase for three months before dying in 'mysterious circumstances'. The second owner was a thirty-seven year old surgeon, or doctor, who died two months after gaining the vase. Some sources have been a bit vague though by saying they died 'several months' later instead of two months later. The third owner of the vase was an archaeologist who is said to have viewed the vase as a beautiful example of high renaissance work. This third owner is said to also have died three months after taking possession of the vase from a mysterious infection.

Sources do differ a little at this point as some seem to indicate that there was a fourth owner which no one knows anything about, except from that they probably died within a month of owning the vase. So, it's unclear if it remained with the family of this fourth owner after they died, or if it remained with the family of the third owner. Regardless, it's said that by this time the vase became unsellable as it's curse had become well known. It's also said that no one was willing to pay anywhere near what the third owner paid, which is said to have been five million Lira, due to it's cursed reputation.

Due to frustrations around the Basano Vase, a family member of either the third owner or mysterious fourth owner threw the vase out of a window. Again, sources differ when it comes to the details of this event. Some have given a bit more detail saying it was thrown out of a high rise apartment, but where they differ is around if it hit a police officer on the head. Some sources claim it did, but others said the officer only saw the vase being thrown out of the window. If the vase did hit the police officer on the head, they were not seriously injured as they went to return the vase and issue a fine to the family for disorderly behaviour. The fine was accepted, but the family refused to take back the vase.

From this point, the vase remained in police custody. It's said that they tried to give the vase to local museums, but the rumours of it's curse stopped them from taking it. Some people believe that the vase ended up being buried again, and others think that it was hidden in cemetery grounds. There are also sources that say the police officer could feel evil in the vase and so buried it after seeking advice from the church. Other speculation has said that it was put in a lead coffin and buried on the grounds of an ancient cemetery, and people have even speculated that the Vatican eventually took the vase away and locked it in a secret vault. There is one source, 'Malorie's Adventures', which claims the Basano Vase is currently housed at the National Museum of Anthropology which is located within Mexico City. Having briefly looked at their website and through their exhibits, it doesn't seem that they have anything close to the Basano Vase in their collection. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the information about the vase currently being located within this museum is incorrect.

As discussed earlier, there are no concrete accounts from anyone who has been in contact with the Basano Vase. There are no personal experiences or names, only two dates; the 1400s and 1988. Everything else about the vase is all stories and rumour. It's said that the legacy of the vase may have gained traction in both the 19th and 20th centuries, also known as the 1800s and 1900s. Due to the distinct lack of factual information, there has been ample room for people to warp the story of the Basano Vase into fiction. It may have been the focus of an episode of the American sci-fi comedy drama 'Warehouse 13'. This TV programme ran from the 7th of July 2009 until the 19th of May 2014, and sources have said the warehouse 13 agents took the vase away and that it was dormant while the lid was on. In the programme, when the lid was removed, the vase drew in people with murderous intent such as serial killers. These people would then kill the person who had the vase in their possession.

Some sources have said that the curse of the Basano Vase is activated by removing it's lid, so it's unclear if this detail existed before or after the fictional 'Warehouse 13' tv programme. There are also 'based on a true story' works of fiction online which read as though they are telling absolute truth. These stories can be read in the 'Vocal' sources I've linked to the article, and they fill in the historical gaps in the true story such as where there are missing names and dates. These stories are purely fictional though, so don't take them as fact.

My Thoughts

Sudden illness, severe bad luck, and untimely death are all things people have claimed that the Basano Vase causes it's owners. However, without anything at all to say this vase even exists; I highly doubt it's story to be anything like what people say. Without any written records of the vase, or quotes about it, or names to trace the history of deaths, or accurate dates; it seems like there's no credibility to the Basano Vase whatsoever. I have however found something every interesting which may possibly debunk the one image we have of the vase. I was originally not going to include any images in this article except the one of the real Basano Vase, but in this segment of the article I'll include some images of a vase which, to me, looks incredibly similar.

Not only does the image seem to look similar to Japanese, or Chinese, vases according to Google; but when I have searched for 1988 vases, I've found some vases by Ryan Huntley which date from 1988. The images in this article of a purple coloured vase are the ones which caught my attention with this search as, despite the shape being slightly different, to me they do look similar in design. This combined with the coincidence of year has me curious if this legend originated in the 1900s, or perhaps even more recently. The one image which exists seems like it's come from a newspaper or magazine, which features possibly Croatian text, but I can't find the original article that this image is from. There's also a possibility that someone wanted to sell a random vase for more than it's worth, so decided to attach a possibly already existing legend to it.

If the story around the Basano Vase is true, then it does interest me due to the vase being reportedly made from silver. There is a theory that silver can absorb energy, particularly negative energy, and so when the bride died then this could be the cause for her possibly haunting the vase. I don't think her spirit could have killed anyone though, unless the deaths were perhaps from heart problems caused by unexpectedly seeing her. I do suspect that the bride could very well have been haunting the vase though as it was passed down through the years.

It's incredibly important to remember that this vase has so few details that it's easy for people to change it's story and sell that as truth. I feel that that's likely happened with so many more widely known items and pieces of folklore that we no longer know for sure what is and isn't fact. So, this is why we need to always keep in mind where the information we have is coming from and what quality it is. Newspapers, official documents, dates, names, family trees, physical items, pictures, videos; all of this is good information and evidence which lends towards the credibility of something. As the Basano Vase has none of this, I have no choice but to view it in an extremely skeptical light. It already seems any semblance of a true story may already have been twisted by TV and online retellings.

Thank You!

Thank you for reading this article! It was quite strange writing about the Basano Vase given that there's so little information out there about it. I'm glad to have documented it in the database though as it's not only an example of an artifact which may have a spirit attached to it, but it's a good lesson about how legends can form, be passed on, then twisted into something else.

The next article will be published on Monday the 27th of April and will document a haunted location within Carlisle. The following article will be published on Friday the 1st of May and will document a paranormal influencer. If you want to follow The True Paranormal you can do so on buymeacoffee, Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, X (formerly known as Twitter), Tumblr, and Pinterest. You can also subscribe to The True Paranormal on YouTube, or directly to this website through the bar on the left which will give you email notifications. That bar also lists all of the links which will take you to The True Paranormal's various social media platforms. If you want to contact me about your own experiences, or about anything at all paranormal, you can email thetrueparanormal1@gmail.com

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Sources I Have Used

1. Burials & Beyond

2. Fandom

3. Haunts

4. Vocal

5. Factschology

6. Dark Hauntings

7. Waivio

8. Vocal: Horror

9. The Gypsy Thread

10. Things Visible and Invisible

11. Anomalien