GUEST: I know who made it.

It was a friend of my parents.

I grew up outside of Toledo, and there was a group of artists and in the late '40s, early '50s that all got together weekly.

Mr.

Simms, the artist, was one of them.

My parents probably got this through a trade, or possibly bought it from him, but I, I think they probably just did a trade.

APPRAISER: This is a fantastic and very exciting discovery.

A very early terra-cotta sculpture by Carroll Harris Simms.

He was a student at the Toledo School of Art.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: He was in Toledo in, in the late 1940s.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: As we can see in this picture, he's an African American young man in the center.

Carroll Harris Simms was a ceramic artist, a sculptor, a potter.

He studied at the Cranbrook School, and one of the first African American artists to study there.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And then he became best known for his work in Texas.

He was a professor of sculpture at Texas Southern University, which is in Houston.

It's a HBCU-- historically Black college or university.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And he worked with John Biggers, who's a, quite a famous painter, a muralist.

And it really was a very important place for learning, for visual arts, and for African American art.

Both were pioneers.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Both were important trailblazers.

I have not seen, in person, his work before.

I've seen pictures.

There's a famous history of African American art that was written by Romare Bearden... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...and Harry Henderson, who's a writer.

Bearden's probably the best-known African American artist.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And there's a chapter on this gentleman.

GUEST: (laughs) Oh, wow.

Wow.

APPRAISER: We can see here this abstracted figure, very unified, simple form.

It's painted.

Looks like there's sand mixed in the paint.

And on the verso is his signature and the date, 1947.

This photograph is dated '49.

This artist's work does not come to the market very often.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Do you have any sense of the value?

GUEST: I, I really had no clue.

I tried to look up auction things and stuff... APPRAISER: Yes.

GUEST: ...and I, I couldn't find anything.

APPRAISER: You didn't find anything because there isn't anything.

(laughs) GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: So at auction, it's going to be kind of a broad range... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...because this is uncharted territory.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Conservatively between $5,000 and $10,000.

GUEST: Wow!

Well, that's kind of cool.

That's... I guess I'll keep it out.

APPRAISER: I think it's a wonderful, wonderful example.

GUEST: Cool.