Ref.11386
Christophe FRATIN (1801-1864), Taureau à la grenouille (A Bull With a Frog)

Between 1839 and 1849 (?) Chef-modèle made out of patinated bronze, base in Rouge Griotte marble. Signed « Fratin », « Fonderie de L. Richard Eyck et Durand » engraved on the base. Dimensions : L. 47 cm / 18’’ 1/2 ; H. 23 cm / 9’’ 1/16 ; P. 26 cm / 10’’ 1/4 REF. 11386 This sculpture was made out of bronze during the 19th century by the famous animal sculptor Christophe Fratin. It represents a young bull moving and more specifically chasing the little frog it has on his back. An other amphibian is set on the base. The reason why this sculpture has so many sharp details is that it is a chef-modèle (original mould) allowing the reproduction of the sculpture in order to produce commercial copies. Indeed, the details lose their quality during the overmoulding process so the chef-modèle is sculpted so as to prevent this loss. When the piece is not meant to be cast in one go, it has to be dismantle so there are bolts which link the different parts of the piece as is the case here. The quality of the beautiful brown patina should be underlined. After the 1848 Revolution, the downturn of the art market forces Fratin to sell his works during auctions, most of the time with their publishing rights which is extremeley rare for a 19th century’s sculptor. Our sculpture has been reassembled with the bolts which were added for the purpose of the sale. We don’t know any copy that would have been made from this chef-modèle, making it particularly unique. In the catalogue of one of these auctions (in July 1849), a « Taureau à la grenouille » (Bull With a Frog) is mentioned, so we can date our sculpture from before 1849.

Ref.10515
After Jean-Auguste BARRE (1811-1896) - Set clock with Marie de Bourgogne going falcon hunting

This important silvered bronze, gilded bronze and white Statuary marble clock set was probably made around 1840-1844. The central group is depicting Mary of Burgundy on a falcon hunt, silvered bronze group after the model by Jean-Auguste Barre, placed on a pedestal. The only daughter of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, wife of Maximilian, Archduke of Austria and future Emperor, Mary of Burgundy was born in 1457. She became Duchess of Burgundy at the age of twenty, after the death of his father during the siege of Nancy. She is here represented practicing her favorite hobby, the hawk hunt. The moment chosen by the sculptor is crucial: Mary seems carefree while she will deadly fall in only a few minutes. She does not notice the nervousness of the rearing horse, which is barely restrained by the page. A lively movement animates the sculpted group, counterbalanced by the apparent serenity of the duchess. The fatal outcome is even more tragic: she falls from her horse in the Wijnendaal forest and dies a few days later, at the age of 25. Her destiny fascinates the romantic generation of which Jean-Auguste Barre belongs, in addition to awakening the taste for medieval subjects which is perfectly illustrated in this Troubadour style group. Indeed, the sculptor accurately represents the costumes: Mary wears a sumptuous damask dress and a surcot bordered with ermine and wears a typical small cap of linen under his crown with fleur-de-lys ; the page wears a doublet with broad armholes, breeches, poulaines and a feathered hat. The horse’s harness is meticulously depicted, inlaid with pearls and cabochons. The saddle carpet bears the wedding coat of arms of Burgundy and Habsburg. The Louvre Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago preserve in their collections a bronze group of the same model. After a first apprenticeship as a medalist with his father, Jean-Auguste Barre improved his training with David d'Angers and Achille Devéria. He had a long and successful career, receiving important commissions for the state or the imperial family. Favorite portraitist of Napoleon III, Jean-Auguste Barre executed no less than 26 busts of the Emperor and several others of Empress Eugenie. He also made the funerary monument of Queen Hortense de Beauharnais for the church of Rueil-Malmaison in 1858. For the city of Paris, he sculpts a group of four children in bronze symbolizing the seasons (for the Circus fountain at the Champs- Élysées, 1840), La Prudence (for the Saint-Michel fountain, 1860), Saint Luc (for the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul church), and the monumental bronze statue of Pierre-Antoine Berryer for the city of Marseille. He exhibited at the Salon from 1831 to 1886, winning a second class medal in 1834, a first class medal in 1840 and was appointed knight of the Legion of Honour in 1852. He was also one of the sculptors behind the creation of small female portrait statuettes in the 1830s, giving birth to sculpted groups of small dimensions characteristic of Louis-Philippe's reign and of romantic sculpture. The group of Mary of Burgundy is then a perfect example of the small romantic sculpture of the mid-nineteenth century. The small sizes are now more adapted to the bourgeois interiors and each model knows many casts, allowing a more constant income to the sculptors. Mary of Burgundy appears on the catalogs of the Susse foundry from 1844. The clock set we present here is also composed of two halberdiers in armor and helmets, as perfect example of the Troubadour style.

Ref.12109
Albert CARRIER-BELLEUSE (1824-1887) - Young woman in statuary marble

Young woman in Antique, in statuary marble signed on the base Albert CARRIER-BELLEUSE (1824-1887).

Ref.15729
Félix Optat MILET, Large enamelled dish on a gold background, 19th century

This beautiful dish with a gold background and flower decoration signed “Milet Sèvres” was made by Félix Optat Milet in polychrome enamelled ceramic and gold background. It is treated in the manner of a cloisonné. This technique was also used by his son Paul. Félix Optat MILET (ceramist) RICHARD (decorator), Large circular decorative dish with polychrome enamelled flowers on a gold background, ©Osenat. All rights reserved. Paul MILET, Polychrome enamelled ceramic ovoid vase decorated with violets on a gold leaf background, c. 1900, ©Art-K-Typ. All rights reserved. The large plate features a butterfly flying over flowers including pink, purple and scarlet poppies. Félix Optat Milet (1838-1911) descended from a line of potters from the village of Bully. In 1862, he joined the Manufacture de Sèvres as a modeller, joining his brother Ambroise, director of kilns and pastes. Optat then became a decorator. In 1866, after applying to the Sèvres Town Hall, he built a kiln very close to the Manufacture. This independent business enabled him to fire his own earthenware and stoneware, which was sold in the shop attached to the factory, and to employ turners, decorators and sales staff. Paul Milet took over from his father at the head of the company in 1890, followed by his grandson Henri Milet in 1931. The company closed in 1971. At the 1889 Universal Exhibition, Milet won a gold medal for a very large pair of vases (1.3 metres high). It was also in the 1880s that Félix Optat Milet and Clément Massier founded the Delvaux boutique (18, rue royale, Paris), which continued until the 1970s. Throughout his career, Félix Optat Milet benefited from his collaborations with the artists of his time and from his own creativity.