“You’ve got Art Negra, in Paris, where Josephine Baker was all the rage. Paul Colin did wonderful posters of her. And the Belgians, a lot of their subject matter for sculpture were people from Africa.
“They liked the physiognomy of black people, and they found it very sculptural, I think this is a portrait, and I can’t believe the sculptor has not seen Auguste Rodin.
“Because you look at it, and it’s like Rodin. But this is later. I believe this is post-war, meaning it’s after 1945. I think it’s Italian, possibly. You put this in a room, and it gives the room presence.
“And the sculptor has got the energy of the sitter in the modelling of those features. The way he’s used the hair is almost like a sunburst, and it makes it decorative.
The guest was left pleased with the valuation
BBC
“It’s not even big, but it’s monumental,” Archer-Morgan praised. “The patina’s wonderful; they’ve just got it right. I think, this lovely little head looks a bit like Rodin; we know it’s post-war – it could be Giacomo Manzu, who was a lovely sculptor, he was Italian.
“I could see any of the decorators wanting to enhance a room interior with a piece like this. And I think someone presenting it that way in a Paris salon, or in something in Manhattan, I think they could ask… £1,500 to £2,000.”
However, it could fetch a greater value if the guest were to carry out Archer-Morgan’s parting demand. “If you could decipher that name, it could be a lot, lot more,” he urged.
The guest was left stunned and replied: “I bought this because I loved it. And I want my family to enjoy it because everyone that comes and sees it, they all…”
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