Michael Yerkes’ grandfather was “an ardent collector of everything for years,” he informed appraiser Brian Thomczek at a recent appraisal session held at the Michigan Design Center. “His death in 1979 led to an auction because of the mere size of his collection. Of course, not everything sold, and I’ve had these items for the last 46 years.”
He brought three items — two were featured in last week’s column — hoping to find out more. The other two — a Titanic news clipping and a Battle of Gettysburg commemorative piece — had relatively low values, $80 to $150 each. The other piece he brought, however, was a different story.
Yerkes also brought a third piece, a sculpture by Cuban artist Ernesto Gonzalez Jerez. “Mr. Jerez was a sculptor that came to be known in NYC in the mid twentieth century,” he wrote in his original email. “My searches of his work always seem to produce full-sized sculptures, not miniatures like this. As you can see in the pic, it’s smaller than his business card.”
The artist has a home page (Ernesto-gonzalez.com), which has interesting background on his life and work. He was born in Havana in 1922 and came to the United States in 1947, where he participated in a number of art shows in New York and Washington, D.C., before moving to California, and later, Florida. He has a number of public works on display in his home country. An artist and sculptor as well as an inventor, author and poet, he “is perhaps best known for his torch-style metal sculpting,” according to the site. The Whitney Museum of Art in New York has a catalog from one of his 1950s shows in their collection; at press time, a sculpture of an owl was also listed online for $950.
The appraiser said Yerkes’ tiny treasure, which he dated to the mid-20th century, was unusual. “This measures maybe an inch and a half,” he said as he sized it up. “This is the first piece like this that I have ever seen. His larger works are definitely more common.”
That makes it desirable and valuable. “It definitely wouldn’t take up a lot of room in someone’s house,” he joked as he turned it over. “I think it’s a horse. There just aren’t many of these out there and it would appeal to collectors.” He appraised it at $800 to $1,000 at auction. “You could keep it or sell it,” Thomczek says. “Either way, it’s a win-win situation.”
Yerkes says it’s been in the box since he cleaned out his grandfather’s collection and it was probably time for it to find a new home. “I will probably sell it.”
About this item
Item: Cuban sculpture
Owned by: Michael Yerkes
Appraised by: Brian Thomczek
Estimated value: $800 and up at auction
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Small sculpture found in collection has big value
Reporting by Khristi Zimmeth, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Khristi Zimmeth, Special to The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
