GUEST: I got this in 1982 or 1983. I had just purchased a home and a friend of mine had gone to England to visit Henry Moore's studio. And he said, "I'd like the give you a house gift." And I said, "Jeez, that's a little extravagant, isn't it?" He said, "Well, I only paid 300 bucks each for them, so feel free to pick whichever one you want." And this is the one I picked. And I've had it in my home ever since.
APPRAISER: Well, the fun part is is that it came right out of Henry Moore's studio.
GUEST: Right out of his studio, yes.
APPRAISER: Now, Henry Moore is rather an important artist. He was noted in England for having brought Modernism to Great Britain. He made monumental sculptures, huge ones that are today out in front of many museums. This is solid bronze. It is hand cast, and the important part of this is that Henry Moore, he did not do the foundry part-- the making of it-- but he did the hand finishing of it.
GUEST: I see. And so his hand actually touched this piece.
APPRAISER: So he did...
GUEST: what is that, a patina?
APPRAISER: He did the whole patina and the finishing of it. It's just a small little piece, 6.3 inches I think we measured. And this is called "Half Figure, Round Head."
GUEST: And I think when you came in... I told you "Round Head, Half Figure," I didn't know. In fact, I don't know which is the front or the back.
APPRAISER: I kind of think this is the front because usually the artist will sign them on the back.
GUEST: I see.
APPRAISER: Now, this is marked "Moore" and then it has the Noack Foundry mark and it says it's number nine of nine. So there's only nine of these... There are only nine of them made and they did not make a larger one. This was all that they made. This is probably going to be worth $15,000 to $20,000.
GUEST: What?!
APPRAISER: Yep, it's worth about 15 to 20...
GUEST: You've got to be kidding me, really.
APPRAISER: And at auction it could do a little more than double that. You never know.
GUEST: My God.
APPRAISER: It's a wonderful piece, and what do you think of that?
GUEST: I thought... first of all, I love the piece. Secondly, I thought it was maybe worth $800, $900.
APPRAISER: It is absolutely correct.
GUEST: I am flabbergasted. It's got all the right markings on it.
APPRAISER: You are very lucky to have a Henry Moore that's real in your home.
GUEST: Well, it's going to stay in my home. Good. I'm really surprised at the value, though. That really, really... (both laughing)
