Ref.14067
Pierre BRAECKE, Art Nouveau style handle with the inscription “L. Solvay”, 1901

This handle bearing the inscription "L. Solvay" comes from the house of Lucien Solvay (1851-1950), a journalist, art historian and poet. He was also a member of the Solvay family, one of the greatest patrons of Art Nouveau. This house was built in 1901 by the architect Georges Hobé at number 76 rue Gachard in Ixelles (Brussels). Hobé commissioned sculptor Pieter Braecke (1858-1938) to create this handle, which adorned the front door of Lucien Solvay’s house. This work is both functional and highly decorative. Its base, adorned with a feather recalling the commissioner's literary activities, also bears the inscription that gives his name. The recess in the handle is formed by the body of a woman drawing a bow; a drapery emphasises its curve. Pieter Braecke was one of Victor Horta's most loyal friends. When the architect built his house and studio in 1903, the sculptor designed the door handles himself. They take up the idea of inscribing the name of the owner of the house and feature the motif of the drapery enveloping the woman in the Solvay handle, in a stylised way. The shape of the woman's body is also reminiscent of the Braecke statuettes crowning the sideboards in the dining room created by Victor Horta at number 22 Voorstraat, Kortrijk. Finally, a handle similar in shape to that of Lucien Solvay can be found on the front door of the house built by the architect Ch. Sée in 1909 at number 51 rue Forestière, Brussels. As with Braecke, a female sculpture in relief forms the handle. Sée drew his inspiration from Braecke, since the rue Forestière house was not completed until eight years after the Solvay house. At the time of its conception, the imposing door handle created by Pieter Braecke for Lucien Solvay had both a practical and highly decorative purpose. Today, it retains mainly its ornamental interest, making it an art object. The delicacy of the sculpture and the prominence given to the personality of the commissioner make it one of the most interesting testimonies both to the history of Lucien Solvay's commission for his house and to the art of Pieter Braecke.

Ref.15948
“ Swimmer ”, statuette in patinated metal

Ref.15972
Édouard DROUOT, The Rowers, circa 1890

This work was executed by Édouard Drouot around 1880. The sculptor Édouard Drouot (Sommevoire, 1859-Paris, 1945) studied at the École des Arts Décoratifs in 1880 under Mathurin Moreau; three years later, he was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris. He participated in numerous exhibitions, notably at the Salon des Artistes Français, and was rewarded several times. Drouot was famous for his sense of movement, evident in this sporting work, although this subject stands as an exception in his oeuvre. On a fine, elongated rowing boat stand two rowers and a coxswain steering the boat; it is thus a "coxed pair". The representation is very realistic: the athletes are in the precise position that marks the transition between the "recovery" (oars out of the water) and the "drive" that propels the skiff forward: knees bent, arms extended; their synchronization, which must be perfect, is revealed by the identical nature of their positions. The athletes wear a t-shirt and shorts while the coxswain, who was often small in size to avoid being an excessive weight, is dressed in a shirt and trousers. The curvature of the oars is represented with precision, as is the equipment that holds them attached to the boat. The sculptor takes particular care in the expression of the characters: the young boy displays a radiant face, while the two athletes, with carefully individualized features, focus on the sporting performance to be achieved. As in this work, racing boats are very long and narrow to reduce resistance due to friction on the water. The rowers sit with their backs to the direction of travel on a sliding seat that accompanies their movements, enhancing the power of their strokes. The oars are the blades used to propel the boat. Rowing is a complete sport, engaging all the muscles. The earliest rowing races were certainly very ancient: Virgil mentions one in the Aeneid at the end of the 1st century BC. The first modern races took place in the second half of the 18th century, among professional rowers who operated as water taxis on the Thames in London; from that point, the United Kingdom became the privileged stage for the development of these competitions. When the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens under the impetus of Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1896, rowing was immediately included among the Olympic disciplines. There are several other statuettes almost identical to ours, except for some differences in the bases and plaques. Perhaps these works were distributed as prizes at various rowing competitions. Edouard Drouot also created another sculpture on a related theme, entitled The Canoeists. This slightly later version, dated around 1900, depicts two rowers in a canoe. Unlike rowers, canoeists face the direction they are heading, thus looking far ahead.