GUEST: We went to a country auction less than a year ago, and this is the only thing I was waiting for for the whole auction, and it was, like, the end of the day. There was me and this one lady that was bidding on it, and I kept bidding, and she bid, and she finally gave up, and it was, like, $40. My husband's looking at me, like, "You paid $40 for that?" (both chuckle)
APPRAISER: This was made in Venice, and it was designed by a young architect named Alessandro Pianon, and it was made by a company called Vistosi. Pianon designed this in 1963. And there were whole series-- he had a family in different colors and shapes.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER: They're not signed-- my experience is that they're not usually signed, so there, but there was a, there is a possibility, at one point, it had a paper label on it.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And so a lot of those paper labels disappear. You have this beautiful blown glass and these copper legs and these wonderful eyes, those little n, murrine eyes, where you see the different colors in them.
GUEST : Yeah, I liked that when I saw it-- that's one thing that attracted me to it.
APPRAISER: It's a very sought-after piece. People love this.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: Because there's such a strong interest in mid-century design. This piece, in a retail venue today, would sell for between $7,000 and $9,000.
GUEST: (laughs) You are kidding!
APPRAISER: I’m not. (both laughing)
GUEST: Oh, my-- oh, my goodness. I'm stunned, I am... Um... And here I am just swinging it around here when I got here today! I was, like, holdin' it by the feet. (both laugh) Oh, my gosh, that's, oh, wow. I had no idea-- that's fantastic.
