Art Nouveau Candelabra, ca. 1900
Appraised Value:
$5,000 - $7,000
IMAGE: 1 of 1
Appraisal Video: (2:35)
Appraised By:
Eric Silver
Metalwork & Sculpture
Director
Lillian Nassau, LLC
Appraisal Transcript:
GUEST: Well, it was passed down to me from my mother from her Uncle Donald, in Virginia.
APPRAISER: You have any idea where Uncle Donald got it?
GUEST: I just know he was a collector. He collected oriental art and just a lot of different art.
APPRAISER: And did he travel?
GUEST: I don't know about his travels. I don't know...
APPRAISER: This piece is from France. It was made in Paris, probably in the 1890s, or around 1900. It's by a fairly well-known French artist from that period. His name was Maurice Bouval. He was born in 1863, and he studied with a very prominent sculptor at the time named Falguiere. And he was one of those artists who's not particularly well-known now, but he was well-known in his period. He exhibited at the Paris salons, which were these big annual exhibitions of French artists. And he exhibited, starting in the 1890s up until around the First World War. Hmm. And... it's very clearly signed. It says Maurice Bouval. And what's particularly interesting about your piece is that it's also signed with the name of the foundry, which is Thiebaut Frères. What's unusual is that the signature's actually engraved in the piece. Most times, the foundry mark is stamped in or punched in to the original model. This was made just at that time when electricity was coming into fashion. And what you have here on the top, these are new plastic covers. They have new fittings in here. These are new electric porcelain fittings, and then this is just plastic that's put over it. In the period, they probably would have just had a socket and bulb. It exhibits this wonderful Art Nouveau figure, surrounded by these flowers. This part is called the bobeche. It's nicely detailed. I think at one time, this probably had a gold patina on it. There are traces of gilding on it. But I think, over the years, it's worn off.
GUEST: Mm-hmm. And I do have a pair of them.
APPRAISER: You just wanted to bring one into the show?
GUEST: Yeah, uh-huh.
APPRAISER: In terms of the value at the shop, this single lamp is worth between $5,000 and $7,000. And since you do have the pair, the pair is worth more than twice of the single, so the pair is between $12,000 and $15,000.
GUEST: Oh, my... Oh. Marvelous. I may move those to a more prominent spot in my house.
APPRAISER: You should.
