1867 Pierre-Eugène-Emile Hébert Bronze
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GUEST:
My grandma got it in Florida when she was visiting relatives. She got it either at a flea market or at a garage sale. That's where she gets almost everything. She got it for $15, $20, probably. And she got it because my sister Portia, my dad, and I all like Greek and Roman mythology. That's pretty much the only reason she got it.
APPRAISER:
Have you tried to find out anything about the piece, or...?
GUEST:
We looked up Émile Hébert, which is, like, right here, and all we found was, he could be a writer, but we figured he probably wasn't.
APPRAISER:
Well, one of the problems that you had when you were looking him up was that his first name is Pierre. So you had to know that this signature, which is here, Émile Hébert, is actually Pierre Émile. But he is a well-listed artist. And he's a, what we call kind of a Neoclassic artist. What I like about the piece is that, first of all, it's bronze, and it has the gold doré inlays on it, which are very, very nice. I don't particularly like the fact that someone didn't cover it when they were painting, because up in here, you can see the paint...
GUEST:
That can probably just be washed off with water.
APPRAISER:
You know, you have to be a little careful. Water's not going to hurt it. Probably you should take it to a professional and have them try to clean it for you. What is important to the piece is, on the back here, it is dated 1867.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Also important is that it has the foundry mark, who actually cast it for the artist, GS, and it was a gold-medal winner. So this actually won a prize at the Salon in Paris in 1867. This artist was quite well-known for this, and you're going to find that this piece would sell at an auction from $4,000 to $6,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my gosh! That's a doorstop.
APPRAISER:
That's a doorstop?
GUEST:
It's a doorstop.
APPRAISER:
Well, you better put it up on a pedestal now.
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