Plaster Lady Liberty Figure, ca. 1920
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GUEST:
I inherited it from my mother, um, who passed away in 2014. She purchased it through a dealer that she found online. She just always loved folk art, and so when she saw this...
APPRAISER:
So what did, what'd she pay for it?
GUEST:
It's my understanding she paid $5,000 for it, and...
APPRAISER:
And this was when?
GUEST:
Probably 2005 to 2010.
APPRAISER:
Okay. This is a molded plaster figure of Lady Liberty. The first thing that I thought about was how amazingly colorful and striking this is. And she looks like a Christy girl. Howard Chandler Christy? Have you ever heard of him?
GUEST:
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
He painted a lot of patriotic things back around World War I.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
She's not signed anywhere.
GUEST:
Darn.
APPRAISER:
I talked to several people that have handled things like this, and they said they thought there was a company in Chicago that made things like this.
GUEST:
Well, the dealer told Mother that it came out of a school in Ohio.
APPRAISER:
Okay, well, that fits.
GUEST:
Yeah. It was found up in the attic in a school in Ohio. And then the dealer was the one that packaged it up or trucked it to Mother in Montana, so...
APPRAISER:
Yeah. We were trying to figure out if there was more of these out there. She was probably made in a factory and she probably was molded. But nobody I talked to has seen another one.
GUEST:
Ever seen one?
APPRAISER:
Nope. She has a gorgeous face. Not only is she beautiful, but look at, look at the pedestal that she's on.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
That's just amazing.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And the other thing that's amazing about this is the condition. It looks like that rim around the light might have been replaced.
GUEST:
I could understand that, yeah.
APPRAISER:
But the fixture in there is a ceramic fixture.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And the wire coming up out of here, where it's not rewired...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...is covered in cloth.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So that means I think we're in the teens or '20s.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
You have some repaint on the top, but nothing that's objectionable and not anything that you wouldn't expect from something like this. Those little things on her crown are, are tin, and the rest of it is plaster with some wood in it.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
That's about it. This is the complete package, in my opinion.
GUEST:
Oh, good.
APPRAISER:
So your mom paid five. So have you ever given any thought to what you think it might be worth?
GUEST:
No, I really haven't only because I knew I would never... I would never do anything else with her. We just love her. Every once in a while, I light her up, but not too often. And it reminds me of my mom.
APPRAISER:
I say all the time that we should put things in our homes...
GUEST:
That we love.
APPRAISER:
...that give love to us. I think because of condition and the fact that she's such a fabulous, compact thing-- not too big, not too small... (laughing)
GUEST:
Just right.
APPRAISER:
I think a retail value on this would be $10,000 or $15,000.
GUEST:
Oh, great. That's great. That is, that is really spectacular. I know Mother would be, would be really happy with that.
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