Ref.12655
Ettore XIMENES (1855-1926) (attr. to), « Boy with a beret », Carrara marble bust, Second half of the 19th century

This Carrara marble bust was made in the second half of the 19th century, it depicts a boy with young features, his head turned slightly to the left. He is dressed with a sailor collar jacket and a large beret. This sculpture can be compared with another bust depicting a similar subject and made by the Italian sculptor Ettore Ximenes (1855 – 1926). It's the representation of a boy, obvisouly a little bit older than ours, frowning and smoking a cigarette. He is dressed with a fabric around his shoulders and a beret put on his head in the same way than in our bust. Ettore Ximenes is an Italian sculptor, painter and illustrator, born in 1855 in Palermo and dead in Roma in 1926. He starts his artistic career by taking class at the Art Academy of Palermo, then from 1872 he enters the Royal Academy of Napoli where he spends time with the painter Domenico Morelli (1826 – 1901) and the sculptors Stanislao Lista (1924 - 1908) and Vincenzo Gemito (1852 – 1929). Finally, he wins in 1874, a scholarship to study for four years in Firenze. The works of art he makes at his beginning are very realistic like in the two busts presented here. Later, he starts adding symbolic elements et Neo-Renaissance ones answering the artistic trend of the end of the century. All along his career, he participates to many European exhibitions such as the International Exhibition of Vienna in 1873 or the one in Paris in 1878 where he meets the French sculptors Auguste Rodin (1840 – 1917) and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827 - 1875). He participates also to the Napoli exhibition in 1877 where he exhibits a full-size sculpture untitled “Balance” which depicts a gymnast woman walking on a sphere, of which many small bronzes were made after. From the 80's, he makes many monumental projects in Italy and decides to dedicate himself to it from 1911 to enliven the public spaces of the world by sculpting for some cities like New York, Sao Paulo, Kiev or Buenos Aires.

Ref.14342
18th century fireback with three crowned lilies, symbols of the arms of France

Ref.13625
François-Rupert CARABIN, Third Dancer with Crotales, 1906

This patinated bronze sculpture was executed by François-Rupert Carabin in 1906. François-Rupert Carabin worked in multiple artistic fields (sculpture, ceramics, cabinetmaking...). He was a pioneer of the decorative arts revival at the end of the 19th century and foreshadowed Art Nouveau. Part of his work had an erotic dimension, which is echoed in his Dancer with Crotales. Indeed, the dancer is depicted nude, playing the crotales. Her bent legs indicate a graceful movement; her arched posture highlights the elegance of her arm movements; her head position complements the whole. Her sensuality is heightened by the presence of an ankle bracelet, emphasizing the nudity of the rest of her body. She holds crotales, an ancient percussion instrument, which saw a certain revival in the 19th century, notably under the influence of Hector Berlioz (1803-1869). This sculpture is the third among a series of six bronze figurines called “The Dance of the Crotales”, which was first exhibited at the Salon of 1906. Subsequently, the sculptor created a series identical to the first, where the dancers are clothed. The work is signed on the base. A similar model to our sculpture is preserved at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Strasbourg, which owns a complete series of Carabin's naked dancers.