Model of Alhambra Room, ca. 1890
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GUEST:
I bought this at a de-acquisition sale at a museum in Santa Monica, Angels Attic, and they told me that they had bought it on the East Coast and it was shipped here. And in shipping it was damaged and it came in pieces, many pieces.
APPRAISER:
So you assembled it, glued it back together
GUEST:
Glued it back together.
APPRAISER:
you put pieces back on.
GUEST:
Right, as best I could.
APPRAISER:
We're going to look at the outside first because your big question is "What is it?"
GUEST:
What is it? I've been dying to know.
APPRAISER:
That's what we're going to try to figure out. Tell us what you know.
GUEST:
Oh, I know it was made in Granada, Spain...
APPRAISER:
We've got the name of the maker.
GUEST:
Well, I don't think he's the maker. Castro Fernández-- maybe it was made for him.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
Maybe it was the maker.
APPRAISER:
Okay. And we also know this is plaster.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
It's been incised decorated. Painted plaster with very low fired enamels, apparently. Uh, as we go around, we can also see from the side that it's beautiful- quality inlay work-- intarsia work. And the basic design we can see also is Islamic influence. The Islamic movement was in Spain at a very early date, in the eighth century. So that is what this essentially is looking back to. And as we go around, we see that, in fact, there's a label here at the top that talks about the Spanish maker who made it. He was also working in Germany...
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And the question we have... There's no date on it.
GUEST:
No, there's no date. He just says in his shop he made these models of the rooms in the Alhambra Palace, in the Moors' palace.
APPRAISER:
Which is what we assume this is.
GUEST:
Yes, yes, it is.
APPRAISER:
And we go around...More of the same work. As I'm going around, I'm also noticing there's a lot of losses and damage.
GUEST:
A lot.
APPRAISER:
But we've looked at the outside of the building, so now let's take a look on the inside...
GUEST:
It's the best.
APPRAISER:
Because the inside's pretty spectacular, I think. And we open it up...
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
The inside is more of the same with the incised plaster work, but also you can see that he used alabaster elements.
GUEST:
Oh, that's alabaster.
APPRAISER:
So it's very beautifully done. Now, what intrigues me about this is the combination of elements. This is a miniature little building. You wonder, what in the world was this for?
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
I think that this was actually made as a tourist item to bring back... for somebody that was taking...
GUEST:
Oh, really?
APPRAISER:
A trip through Spain. But I think it was also possible this would have been something that would have been bought for a small museum...
GUEST:
Oh...
APPRAISER:
Put in a gallery so people could come in and see what Moorish architecture was.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
And the challenge really is in terms of the value because the damages are pretty severe.
GUEST:
Oh, it is?
APPRAISER:
But what did you pay for this?
GUEST:
$225.
APPRAISER:
Whatever it's worth, you're in great shape.
GUEST:
Oh, yes-- no, I love it.
APPRAISER:
I think in its current state it's worth about, uh... I would say $5,000 to $7,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my goodness, really?
APPRAISER:
I'm serious.
GUEST:
Even in this state?
APPRAISER:
Spend a little bit of money to fix it up properly, I could see easily $7,000 to $10,000.
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