Italian Art Deco Alabaster Polar Bear Lamp, ca. 1925
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GUEST:
My husband, um, actually found this in a local antique store. He really liked it and pointed it out to me, and we left that day without purchasing it. But he had a birthday coming up in a couple of weeks, so I snuck back a couple of days later and bought it for him for his birthday, and know absolutely nothing about it, other than that we thought it was just really awesome.
APPRAISER:
Okay, well, it's Italian, it's Art Deco, dates from the 1920s, maybe into the 1930s, and it's made of alabaster. And alabaster has been a very sought-after material for c, millennia. It's been mined in Ancient Egypt, and used in, you, we find examples of things made of alabaster in the pharaohs' tombs. It became a popular carving material in Italy in the late 18th century. Its popularity is because it looks like marble, but it is much softer to carve...
GUEST:
Hm, that makes sense.
APPRAISER:
...and it's actually more carveable, like wood. The major mines in Italy are, uh, up in the Tuscany area. This was probably, uh, exported, made for export, and sold probably in the United States in the 1920s.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
A lot of these could have come with, uh, paper labels on them, and they often come off, but they did not necessarily label wi, with a maker's name.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And it's so whimsical. It has three bears, you know, one clearly the leader of the, of the group, standing on top of the ice cave, and the icicles falling down, and the two smaller bears. It's nice that they chose a little bit different color for this bear, which indicates it's, you know, has a different color of its fur.
GUEST:
Yeah, it's a light.
APPRAISER:
It's a lamp-- it does light up. And, uh, in a dark room, it would make a, a big statement.
GUEST:
It's very stunning, yeah.
APPRAISER:
I get that.
GUEST:
In a dark room.
APPRAISER:
The cord on it is a little... A little...
GUEST:
(laughs): A little shady, yeah.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, I mean, I don't know about-- for safety issues, you might want to have it rewired.
GUEST:
I know. (laughs)
APPRAISER:
And that won't cost very much.
GUEST:
In fact, my husband said that before I left this morning. He's, like, "Make sure you tell them that I know the cord's not right."
APPRAISER:
Do you mind me asking what you paid for it?
GUEST:
I believe I paid $120 for it.
APPRAISER:
Okay, well, I saw in the retail level at least three examples of this same model being offered at in excess of $2,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER:
(chuckles)
GUEST:
That's awesome.
APPRAISER:
Isn't that great?
GUEST:
That's fantastic.
APPRAISER:
I think you got a great deal.
GUEST:
Yeah. Yeah, and I think my husband's maybe going to have to step up his birthday game this year.
(both laugh)
GUEST:
Shh-- secret!
(both laugh)
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