Austrian "Naughty" Cat Bronze, ca. 1900

Appraised on: June 12, 1999

Appraised in: Birmingham, Alabama

Appraised by: Gary Piattoni

Category: Metalwork & Sculpture

Episode Info: Cats and Dogs (#1619)
Wild Things (#916)

Originally Aired: December 19, 2005

IMAGE: 1 of 2  

Appraisal Video: (1:40)

GUEST: I got it in Florida about 17 years ago. And I got it at an estate sale, but I don't know what I paid for it. I forgot.

APPRAISER: Can you guess?

GUEST: Somewhere probably around five dollars.

APPRAISER: Well, it's really charming, and it's a bronze. It's what they call an Austrian cold-painted bronze. This cat also has a secret, doesn't it?

GUEST: That's right.

APPRAISER: The cat opens up, and it converts to a little naughty image here.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: And it's kind of, I would think, an early Transformer. This was probably done around 1910. There was a very famous artist that made these. His name was Bergman. And he did large-scale sculptures. But he always signed his small "naughty bronzes," "Namgreb," which is "Bergman" spelled backwards.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: And he always signed his pieces. This piece does not have Bergman's signature, so I have to assume it is a colleague or a contemporary of his. But it does have the Austria mark on the back, which indicates that it is an Austrian bronze, and again, probably dates circa 1900. So what you've got here is a lovely little naughty bronze, by day, kitty, and by night, a very risqué image. Value on a piece like this, because they're highly collectible, is $2,000.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness.

APPRAISER: Isn't that fantastic?

GUEST: Yes, it is.

APPRAISER: Well, thank you very much for bringing it in. It's a lovely, lovely piece.

GUEST: Thank you.