Moreau brothers copied their work in spelter

Q. I am enclosing photographs of two lamps, which I purchased about 10 years ago at an estate sale. They are both signed “L&F Moreau” and have the original shades. They are 39 inches tall, including the shades. The lamp with the boy has slight damage at the base, and on the other, the man and the woman have damage on their faces, arms and legs. I would like to know their value.

A. There is more than mustard coming out of Dijon, France. There is also the Moreau family of artists, and we have actually seen charts listing who's who and the various relationships in this artistic clan.

The particular Moreau family members who concern us today are Louis Auguste Moreau (1855-1919) and Hippolyte Francois Moreau (1857-1930). They are perhaps best-known for their ornate clocks and mantel garnitures cased in either bronze or spelter.

Both Moreau brothers in this partnership were artists who sculpted and produced bronze statuary, and their original bronze pieces can bring considerable amounts of money. But they also set up a studio to make spelter copies of their works in quantity, and these are far less highly regarded by collectors.

Spelter is sometimes synonymous with the element zinc, but in antique or vintage statuary, it is usually an alloy of zinc that is sometimes called “white metal” or “pot metal.” Often, spelter is given a thin coating of bronze to make it look like the more expensive alloy of copper, but telling the difference between bronze-coated spelter and solid bronze is not difficult.

A small scratch in an unseen place (say, the underside) will reveal a coppery color if the metal is solid bronze or a whitish-silvery color if the metal is spelter.

It should be mentioned as well that spelter is softer and lighter than bronze and takes the details imparted by casting less well.

The metal used to make these lamp bases is definitely spelter, which has been painted off-white with gilded details such as clothing. From the photographs, we feel that the damage to which you refer is damage to the cream-colored paint.

This is not an uncommon occurrence on these lamps, and if not unsightly, it's not a huge deduction. Unfortunately, the large patch of missing paint on the face of one of the figures on these lamps is unsightly and will reduce the value somewhat.

You should check the lamps to see if a circular design — the Moreau foundry mark — can be found on the back. It is a bit hard to read, but should have the words “Paris” and “France” arranged around a symbol, but another round seal found on lamps such as these reads “Collection Francaise Made in USA” around a fleur-de-lis.

We believe this second mark is later than the first and is basically a reproduction of the Moreaus' French-studio-produced pieces.

We hope that the lampshades we see in the photographs are not the originals because they probably date from the 1960s or a bit later.

For the most part, we see L&F Moreau lamps of this type (cream-colored paint and gilded clothing) with some paint loss retailing in the $500 to $600 range for the pair.

Ÿ Contact Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 18350, Knoxville, TN 37928.