1873 Eugene Lanceray Troika Sculpture
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GUEST:
It was my grandparents'. It was in their house here in Baton Rouge, and as I child, I just was infatuated with this piece.
APPRAISER:
And any idea where your grandparents got it? Did they travel?
GUEST:
I have no clue. It looks Russian.
APPRAISER:
It looks Russian. So the question always is how does this Russian thing wind up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana? And that's part of the fun of doing the ROADSHOW, because anything could show up anywhere that we go to. And it is signed in Russian right over here. And it's actually signed by the most famous Russian sculptor of the 19th century.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
His name was Eugene Lanceray. And he signed it here in Cyrillic. I don't know how to read Russian. The only Russian word I know how to read is "Lanceray."
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
And it's actually dated "1873." And it's very nice here because it has the foundry mark, and it's the Chopin Foundry, C-H-O-P-I-N.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
He was born and studied in St. Petersburg, but he also spent a few years in Paris.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And Paris at this time was the center of sculpture. What these Lancerays are known for are these wonderful depictions of everyday life in Russia with the utmost detail. This is a troika, that's a three-horse sled, and you have this wonderful little child here, another figure jumping on as the sled gets under way, and you have this gentleman standing here, trying to control these three horses. And it looks like he has a handful trying to get these guys going all in the same direction.
GUEST:
Yeah, I love the different expressions from... Each horse is doing something different.
APPRAISER:
It's just the best, best of Russian sculpture in the middle part of the 19th century. He was born in the 1840s, and this was done at the height of his career in 1873. The patina on this is great. It's a nice, rich color. Nobody polished it along the way or rubbed it down or did anything. And in terms of value, any idea?
GUEST:
I have no clue.
APPRAISER:
No clue?
GUEST:
No clue.
APPRAISER:
A retail price for this, in a gallery, would probably be about $15,000.
GUEST:
Wow. Yeah, I didn't think that. (chuckling) Wow.
Appraisal Details
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