Achille Perelli Trompe L'oeil Oils, ca. 1880
GUEST:
My mother had a very good friend who was an antique dealer. She would go down to New Orleans, and New Orleans is where she bought these and brought them back, and they hung in our house for... forever.
APPRAISER:
What do you think of them?
GUEST:
I love them. I think they're wonderful. They're done on wood. When I was a little girl, I was drawn to them, and I told my mother that I wanted these, that these were going to be mine.
APPRAISER:
Not what every little kid wants.
GUEST:
No, not at all, no. But I don't know why, but I just loved them.
APPRAISER:
And do you know who the artist is?
GUEST:
Yes, I do. The artist is from Italy, and his name is-- and I'll try to say this correctly-- Achille Perelli.
APPRAISER:
I think you have half of it correct, although we'll give you full credit. Achille Perelli.
GUEST:
Achille, Achille Perelli.
APPRAISER:
It's a difficult name, it's an Italian name.
GUEST:
It is very hard.
APPRAISER:
Now, each painting is signed here, and on the bottom, we see, "N.O."
GUEST:
New Orleans.
APPRAISER:
New Orleans. Because that's where Achille ultimately settled after he came to this country from Italy. He was born in 1822. He lived until 1891. He started painting birds after the hunt, game subjects in and around 1870. So I believe these were probably painted in the 1870s, perhaps the 1880s. What I like about these is I think of them in a kind of larger context in art historical terms, of what is called a trompe l'oeil still life. Trompe l'oeil is a French term which essentially means "fool the eye," meaning that something is painted so realistically, it's as if you could lift the game birds right off the painting. As you point out, they're oil paintings.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
They're on wood panel. And this history of trompe l'oeil is really something that goes back centuries to Europe, particularly in 17th century Holland. And these trompe l'oeil paintings, even the little knots in the wood are depicted here, along with the nail. And beginning in the Baroque period, they became popular because they were a way of showing affluence. They were a way of showing that someone had arrived. And these were sorts of trophies. At auction today, we believe that each one of these still lifes of game birds after the hunt would be valued at $10,000 to $15,000.
GUEST:
Each one?
APPRAISER:
Each one.
GUEST:
Wow.
Appraisal Details
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