Hi Jeffery,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

I've also found similar examples signed "R Prunet" and think an attribution to the artist is warranted despite the lack of a signature. So I did a little digging, and find that there's little known publicly about the artist but here's what I could find and verify:

His decorative ceramic sculptures are in Barbotine, a mixture of clay and water used for molding or decorating pottery that are then glazed. Most date to the first quarter of the 20th Century and are small rather than large traditional gallery sculptures; I can find none others dated as late as this horse sculpture (1952).

When these sculptures come to the retail market, they are usually priced in the range of several hundred to a few thousand but when they are auctioned, they don't bring quite that much, typically in the $200-250 range for ones of this size.

Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

A French Art Deco style barbotine clay horse sculpture
Attributed to R. Prunet, mid 20th Century
Green-glazed horse vigorously modeled with arched neck, wavy mane and raised front leg, on a naturalistically modeled oval or kidney-form base. Inscribed 'Paris, France 1952' underneath.
16-1/4 inches high
CONDITION: This appears to be in good condition
PROVENANCE: Acquired from a storage unit
$ 200-250*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia