GUEST: I bought it in New
York City about 20 years ago,
over 20 years ago, probably.
APPRAISER: And it was
in a gallery, a shop?
GUEST: No, it was a
dealer who sold it to me.
She was actually selling
Haitian art, and she had a
couple of bronze statues, and I
just took to it immediately.
I thought it was so beautiful
and so statuesque, and I relate
to bronze ladies, so I thought
I just related to her totally.
APPRAISER: It's really
a wonderful piece.
As you know, it's signed.
It's by an artist
named Ángel Botello.
He was interesting.
He's sort of one of these
renaissance characters
because not only did
he do sculpture, but
he did paintings,
he did watercolors.
He was born in Spain
in 1913 and he studied
in Paris, he studied
architecture at the Ecole
des Beaux-Arts, and he
also studied painting.
And it's interesting that you
said that you bought this in
a gallery that specialized
in Haitian art, because he lived
in Haiti for a number of years.
And then in 1953, he
wound up in Puerto Rico.
He's probably the most famous
sculptor in Puerto Rico.
It was probably done
in the early 1980s.
So we have this lovely little
seated girl, seated child.
Charming, made out of bronze.
It's very
modern-looking, stylized.
She has this wonderful
flat face, which I find
very appealing, and
this nice, long neck.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: And then her dress
has this great, great sort of
pebbly textured surface, which
I think is nice.
It's very endearing, very warm.
GUEST: I think so.
APPRAISER: Yeah, I mean,
that's what people like
in sculpture, in artwork.
It's appealing, it looks nice.
That goes a long way in
determining the value.
So what did you pay for
this when you bought it?
GUEST: Oh gosh, it's been so
long, but I know I paid $1,000.
I know it was a lot of money for
me at that time, 20 years ago.
I had art before
I had furniture.
But I was just, again, so
taken by it and just thought
it was so lovely, I just put
the money out.
APPRAISER: His work is
very, very desirable.
The market is very, very strong
for works from Puerto Rico,
from artists from the Caribbean.
This is a great, great piece.
The value in a gallery is
probably about $10,000.
GUEST: Okay, nice.
Really nice.
