I have something very, very unique
that you've probably never seen before.
I've worked here 25 years, dude.
OK.
[LAUGHTER]
This is ancient Apsara dancer statue from the 10th century
made out of sandstone.
OK.
And where in the hell did you get this?
It's been in our family forever.
Since the 10th century?
[LAUGHTER]
You said this has been in the family forever.
Do you know how someone got it originally?
Not from a couple of generations back.
It came from India.
We've had it sitting out there for a long time, and--
OK, so you had an ancestor who was in-- lived
in India or visited there, or?
I'm from India myself.
OK.
If this is from the 10th century,
it's uber cool because this is a real piece of art.
And it's in amazing condition, and that's the part
that scares the hell out of me. - OK.
OK?
Because, you know, sometimes it's too good to be true.
This has been stored away for a long time,
so we haven't had it sitting out there in the elements.
Been packed in a suitcase.
OK.
Well, if you've had it in a suitcase for,
like, 100 years, what about the last--
the 900 years before-- - Right.
What-- what happened to it we don't know.
So these are things I need to look
into because India was a really popular tourist spot
for the past 150, 160 years.
And when you have tourists, you have people
who want to sell them stuff.
There was a lot of fakes made, but there was also
a lot of people grabbing every old temple and everything they
could find to sell it to the British tourists
because they had hard currency.
So I need to know if it's real.
I'm assuming you want to sell it.
Yes, yes.
And how much do you want for it?
I was asking $5,000 for it.
$5,000, OK.
I would really like someone to check this out.
I'm going to call up my friend Phineas.
He's a strange cat, but he really
knows what he's talking about. - All right.
OK?
He'll come in, he'll take a look at it, and we'll go from there.
That sounds good.
RAY: I'm really excited to see what it's really worth.
We've had this for a long time, and we're really
looking forward to seeing, you know, what it's really worth
and how old it really is.
I'm so glad you called me in to look at a piece like this,
and I know some interior decorators that would probably
spring for that right now.
You know, like to put it on their shelf.
PHINEAS KASTLE: Rick sent me a text message of this image.
And when I saw it, immediately I thought, wow,
this is something I'd really love to take a look at it
because that's my expertise.
And I love Indian art, so I came immediately.
So, Rick, what are your personal concerns about it?
Well, first off, he says it's from India
and the 10th century, which means it's, like, a thousand,
1,100 years old.
OK.
It's in really good shape.
Yes.
OK?
I've never seen something sandstone this old--
Look this good.
--look this good, yes.
You're exactly right.
Looking at the exquisite way that it's been preserved
and the aging signs, if this were sandstone 1,000 years old,
it would be pitted terribly.
They-- we never get them in museums that look like this.
So you're calling this an Apsara, right?
Yeah.
So an Apsara is a sky angel.
To indicate Apsara, you-- you want to see it flying,
and it usually has feet that are kind of crossed
or going up like this, you know, as
if it's flying out of the sky.
This piece is missing the feet, which
is very interesting to me.
So let's talk about the face.
This face is not Indian.
It's Cambodian.
OK.
I found a photo that I had taken.
It looks just like it.
Look at that.
And this is from Cambodia.
OK.
OK?
And so you can see it's just a perfect kind of replication.
Pretty much identical almost.
Yes, pretty much identical.
So, you know what I'm going to have to say.
It was a replication done in Cambodia,
and it's probably, like, around maybe 75 to 150 years old.
Somewhere in there, they-- they did this statue.
What's something like this go for?
$1,200 to maybe, like, $2,200 on the upside--
OK.
--would be what you're looking at.
Thanks, Phineas.
You are welcome, Rick.
It's one in a million that I would actually have
that photo in my collection.
But it's still a beautiful piece,
and it's something that I'm sure somebody
out there would love to own and-- and
display in their home.
Are you still stuck on 5 grand?
Like, not anymore.
OK.
So what are you willing to take for it?
18?
OK, he just said it would go for 12 to 24.
Right.
OK?
And if I buy it for 18, I'd most likely lose money.
Maybe like 700 bucks for it?
I'll take 1,000.
And it's in good shape.
I'll give you 800 bucks.
900?
No.
No?
850?
No.
800 bucks?
I'll do it.
OK, sweet.
Cool, man, and I'll meet you right up front.
And you even get to keep your box.
RAY: I felt OK about it.
If it's not really, you know, the 10th century artwork,
I'd just rather sell it and--
and keep going.