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Surrounded by 59 paintings, 21 trays of cuff links, seven chandeliers, and a statue of the Hindu god Shiva, two veteran antique dealers faced off.

“$800,” said the buyer, Fern R. Elkind, 72, who had already increased her initial bid by $300.

The seller, Karen Murphy, 62, demanded more. “Every dime counts.”

Just a day earlier, the treasure at the center of this drama — a modernist textile — was going for $15 in a parking lot.

But improbable discovery is what it’s all about at Showplace Antique + Design Center in Manhattan.

Showplace, which occupies four stories of a building in Manhattan on 25th Street between Broadway and Avenue of the Americas, is home to about 50 antiques stalls. The basement alone includes stalls offering ancient Egyptian statuary, early radios and Chinese vases.