GUEST: Well, it was passed down to me from my mother from her Uncle Donald in Virginia.
APPRAISER: And 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.
APPRAISER: Yeah, because 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 Falguière. And he was one of those artists who is not particularly well known now, but he's well known in his period. He actually 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. 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 Thiébaut Frères. What's unusual is that the signature is actually engraved in the piece. Most times, the foundry mark is stamped in or punched into 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 a 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: And I do have a pair of them.
APPRAISER: And you just wanted to bring one into the show?
GUEST: Yeah, uh-huh.
APPRAISER: In terms of the value, this single lamp is worth between $5,000 and $7,000. Now, since you do have the pair, the pair is worth more than twice of a single. So, the pair is between $12,000 and $15,000.
GUEST: Oh, my...Oh, marvelous! (laughs)
