Charles Raphael Peyre Bronze, ca. 1900
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GUEST:
My grandmother, after my grandfather died, she bought a house in Manhattan Heights here, and when she bought it, it was fully furnished and all the artwork and everything was in it. I would think she bought it right after the war, '45, something like that.
APPRAISER:
So what brought you to bring this in today?
GUEST:
Well, actually, I had a friend who had an extra ticket, and he called me up at 10:00 and said, "Bring something," so that's what I grabbed.
APPRAISER:
Do you know anything about the artist?
GUEST:
No, I know nothing, except that he's from France, I do know that.
APPRAISER:
Yes, he's a French artist, Charles Raphael Peyre, and his dates were from 1872 to 1949, so working in the turn of the century. And he really embodies the French spirit of the time. There were a lot of wonderful artists working in Paris. He was part of the Paris Salons, he entered competitions and won prizes, and was well-regarded in his time. It's a wonderful representation of The Three Graces, harkening back to mythology, to Zeus's daughters.
GUEST:
Oh, really?
APPRAISER:
And there's just this wonderful movement. The figures are so animated. It's got this great, sort of green patina, what's called a verdigris patina. The piece is signed here on the front, "Charles Raphael Peyre."
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And we have "Paris, France" here, and on the side it has the foundry mark. It indicates that it was a lost-wax method of creating this. There's just so much activity going on, so much grace and elegance to the characters, it's just really a treat to see. For insurance purposes, you'd want to look at a figure in the $9,000 range. So it's a nice work…
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
…by a well-regarded French sculptor, and great to see.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
That's great.
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