Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: When I was 14, I traveled to Europe# with my parents.

We stopped to visit a friend## of my father from after the war, south of Paris,# and it turns out his friend was married to the## daughter of Alexander Calder.

And so we stayed# in the compound where Alexander Calder lived.

GUEST: And I was a 14-year-old boy getting# around, and I happened upon his studio and## peeked in and watched him working.

He had# Parkinson's at the time, but when he worked,## his hand would be still.

I had my# 15th birthday while we were there...

GUEST: ...and that was in, uh, 1969.

And# he presented me this sculpture as my 15th## birthday present.

I saw him working in# his shop on something similar to this.

APPRAISER: Uh-huh.

GUEST: And when he presented this to me, it occurred to me that he may have# actually been making it at the time.

APPRAISER: Uh-huh.

And what did he say?

GUEST: He didn't say much.

He wasn't.. APPRAISER: Uh-huh.

GUEST: My mother came in wit.. and he said, "Well, maybe they'll# get small enough and just disappear."

APPRAISER: (chuckles) And tell me about# his studio, what did it look like?

GUEST: An old French farmhouse, kind of# like not even a farm, more of a barn.

APPRAISER: And there were, like,# pieces of metal and wire all over?

GUEST: Pieces of metal and wire.

APPRAISER: Hed wander around# and pick up something...

GUEST: And mock-ups.

Some bigger pieces.#.. larger versions.

I don't know if this one has# a larger counterpart somewhere, I don't know.

APPRAISER: Calder is one of America's# leading sculptors of the 20th century.## His father was a very prominent# sculptor.

He was an academic sculptor.

GUEST: Oh, I didn't know that.

APPRAISER: His name was Alexander# Stirling.. out as an engineering student.

He was born# in 1898.

He was an engineering student at## Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.# He was interested in mechanics and engineering,## and you can see how that became part of# the artwork that he started to do.

And## he studied the Art Students League.

And he# actually went to Paris in the late 1920s,## stayed there for the early 1930s.

And he was# part of a whole group of American expatriate## artists who were living there.

One of the most# wonderful things he did, he built a circus out of## wire and cloth and wood.

And he would have all his# friends come and he would perform the circus acts.

GUEST: Oh, my gosh.

APPRAISER: And his work starts with# these smal.. And there are things that 20-, 30-feet high.# There are a lot of things that hang from the## ceiling and move all the time.

This is# wonderful because you have the base and## this amazingly balanced piece.

And what# is there?

A little indentation there?

GUEST: Just a little hole in the... APPRAISER: Uh-huh.

And it sits# right there.

It's wonderful.

The## amount of movement it has is just extraordinary.

GUEST: Would you call this a# mobile or a stabile or a mixture?

APPRAISER: It's both.

So this part is# a stabile and this part is a mobile.## So you have the best of both worlds,# (chuckling) is what it comes down to.## They're all handmade.

You can actually see and# envision him cutting it out of a piece of tin.## And then they're painted, there's# a great craftsmanship.

It's signed,## so it has his monogram on the side that's# been pressed in.

Did you ever have it valued?

GUEST: No.

APPRAISER: I've never he.. what you've given us.

But it still has# to be submitted to the Alexander Calder## Foundation.

They authenticate pieces.

As you# can see, these are relatively easy to make,## so they're very easy to be faked.

It's almost# impossible to sell them without the certificate.## You'll be able to present the documentation to# the insurance company.

You have the documentation## in case there was any kind of issue.

That's the# gold standard.

This could be a maquette for a very## large piece.

It would require research to find out# if there is a larger version.

You might find that## information from the Calder Foundation itself.# They have scrupulous records of all of his work.## They're fairly rare, and especially in this size.# In a gallery setting, this would be $250,000.

GUEST: Wow.

Jeez, that's amazing.

I mean,# it's probably worth more than that to me,## just in memories, but that's... ...spectacular.

APPRAISER: Yeah.