BRONZE FIGURE

First, what a wonderful looking piece! Certainly a treasure to have.

I would like to see if you can dig up some family history on it. Who owned it and when? Look through some old family photos, if family is not available, and check the background closely, does it appear in any of them?

Secondly check very closely all over the item. I am looking for a foundry mark, which could be hidden anywhere.

These items are normally molded by the artist in a process called "lost wax" where the original artwork is done in wax then a plaster or other type of cast is made of it and the wax melted out to get  rid of it and make the 'negative' of the figure. Then the metal is poured in to make the statue 'positive'.  Some molds are made to be used over and over. Those types the artist ususally has a foundry do for him while he does other projects.  Hence the foundry mark (equivilent to the publisher in a book).

There in lies the rub though. Molds are used over and over. D. H. CHIPARUS worked in the late 1800's to mid 1900's.  If you can prove you have an early one, not copied, you are looking at a couple thousand dollars plus.  However, as I am sure you have noticed, there are a plethora of his work out there  ranging from a couple hundred dollars on up. That's because they are still being poured today. It's not uncommon for molds to last a long time and be sold over and over again.   The Name is not really a signature, his has a large capital C for example and a fancy trailing S in his actual signature, but rather the foundry marking the artists name on the piece like the publisher does the authors on a book.

It concerns me that the fingers look a little too sharp in releif, for example, as they are ususally hand finished for high end pieces after the molding to get rid of sharp edges. Even over time, the sharp edges get worn down.

The foundry mark would give you the period that they made that particular statue.

So you need to find the provinance to be able to date it closer. If I  was insuring and felt confident that it was picked up in the late 1950's, I would suggest it's a mass produced, authorized piece and would suggest insuring it for about $2000.00. If I am not at all sure of that age,  you are probably better off considering it around the $200 to $500 range.

It's not numbered, so mass produced, and the signature part looks to be a newer productution piece.

Still a great piece, don't get me wrong, but in this industry provinance is king!

250chief