Frederick William MacMonnies Bronze, ca. 1896
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GUEST:
It was one of my grandfather's objects that he had. He was a serious collector of all types of art. And it was at their house in Chicago for as long as I can remember.
APPRAISER:
Okay, and have you ever had it appraised before?
GUEST:
I took it one place once, and got a little bit of information about it, but not very much.
APPRAISER:
Do you recall how much it was valued for at the time?
GUEST:
I believe between 20 and 25.
APPRAISER:
Okay, so what we have here is a sculpture by Frederick William MacMonnies. And it is the "Bacchant and Faun." And it's a 15-and-a-half-inch model of this sculpture. The original full-size model was exhibited in 1894 at the Paris Salon. And then after the Paris Salon, it was gifted to a friend of MacMonnies' called Charles McKim, who was an architect in Boston, who in turn donated to the Boston Public Library.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And in 1896 it went on display, at the time with great acclaim. I believe it was in November of 1896. But shortly after it went on display, the Women's Christian Temperance Union had great issue with it because of her perceived drunken indecency. And after a short period of display, it was taken down.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
So the gift was withdrawn, and it was donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it sits today. Because of all of this uproar in 1896, MacMonnies was able to recast many smaller editions. It became extremely popular. MacMonnies from 1896 onwards for about the next ten years cast these in two sizes: in a 32-inch, and just over a 15-inch model. We have the signature right here, which is "F. MacMonnies," and then the date of 1896. And then you have the bronze foundry mark as well. And it was cast in Paris. You had talked about the value, and now when you say "$20, $25," is that thousand?
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
Now, whether or not that was correct, I have no idea.
APPRAISER:
When I was researching it and looking for comparable sales results, I found that the price that you had been given was the price for the bigger model.
GUEST:
I see.
APPRAISER:
We were able to find examples in the 15-and-a-half-inch model. When they come up for auction, the auction estimates are $3,000 to $5,000.
GUEST:
That doesn't bother me. I had no intentions of taking her out of the family. I was just curious to learn more about her.
Appraisal Details
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