One of the items that causes great confusion among novice
collectors is "Bronze Sculptures", this is understandable
because of the wide variance in values for what appear at first glance to be similar items, but with huge differences in price. The piece in question here is by the French sculptor Antoine Louis Barye  (1796-1875). It could be worth anywhere from $500.00 to $11,000.00 depending on it's pedigree. Barye was well known for his ability to capture the beauty of nature in a realistic and sometimes brutal fashion. Being a popular sculptor of his time his work was widely copied, not only in bronze, but other base metals such as Spelter ( a zinc alloy) or even lead, plated with a bronze finish. This is were the confusion creeps in, at first glance the original and later copies in Bronze or Spelter look virtually identical. The Spelter examples however, can be eliminated quickly with a simple "scratch" test to the base of the piece, as Spelter when scratched with a knife or nail file will show a silvery colour under the bronzed finish.
Telling the difference between the original bronze pieces made during the 19th Century under the artists instructions and later reproductions made after the sculptor's death is more problematic, as some copies are of very high quality and differ only by their foundry markings. This is where is is highly important to know the biography of a sculptor's working life to determine when certain pieces
were produced, which foundry did the casting and the marks they used. In the case of our "Bronze" pictured above it is an original by Antoine Louis Barye and sold for $10,063.  Had it been one of his original working models on which he based his production pieces it's estimated value would be over $100,000.00.