Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: I know that my grandfather purchased it probably in the 1920s from an estate in Canandaigua, New York.

APPRAISER: It's a pretty stunning bronze by a French artist, Albert Ernest Carrier-Belleuse.

And it's actually marked down here on the base.

We did have a look, and I know you did too, to see whether there were any foundry marks that give you a little more information.

And I didn't find anything on this.

It's really a pretty tremendous, um, figure, both in size and in the fluidity of the movement to it.

It's really wonderful.

It is titled, it's "Dancer Napolitan."

And what's really kind of fascinating and what appeals to me, not only, the figure itself and its, its large scale, but we see so many bronzes that are signed, but we really know very little about the artist.

And this is a case where it's someone who was very popular in his own time.

French, he was born in 1824 and lived and worked throughout the mid-19th century and was really a very prolific artist.

He did similar subjects, these fanciful figures from 19th century to classical figures to mythological figures, to under the reign of Napoleon III in the 1850s through the 1870s, some public works projects.

So he really pretty much did everything.

He was sort of a Renaissance man of his time.

When I was looking for comparables, I found over a thousand records, so it's, again, rare that you find an artist of the 19th century that there's that much of a body of work for.

It certainly does have a little bit of condition issues, and the surface isn't quite as pristine patina, but for insurance purposes I would think of a value in the, up in the $20,000 range.

Quite a...

GUEST: Yeah APPRAISER: quite a valuable piece.

GUEST: And even though it's, um, gold, it's still a bronze?

APPRAISER: Yes, it's the patina that's on it.

GUEST: My gosh.

APPRAISER: Yeah.

GUEST: Thank you very much!

APPRAISER: Well, thanks for bringing it in today.