French Gilt Bronze Sculpture of the Seated Poet Sappho, J. Pradier, 19th Century
By J. Pradier
Located in London, GB
A beautiful French gilt bronze sculpture of a study of the seated poet Sappho, signed J. Pradier, with Suisse Freres foundry mark, circa 1830 in date.
The sculpture portrays the classically dressed poet Sappho seated on a stool with a lyre, deep in thought.
The attention to detail throughout this piece is second to none and this high-quality bronze was made from the lost wax process 'cire perdue'.
Condition:
In excellent condition. As an antique item its show minor signs of use commensurate with age, these minor condition issues are mentioned for accuracy and, as seen in the accompanying photographs, the bronze displays beautifully.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 23 x width 29 x depth 14
Dimensions in inches:
Height 9.1 x width 11.4 x depth 5.5
Born in Geneva, Pradier was the son of a Protestant family from Toulouse. He left for Paris in 1807 to work with his elder brother, Charles-Simon Pradier, an engraver, and also attended the École des Beaux-Arts beginning in 1808. He won a Prix de Rome that enabled him to study in Rome from 1814 to 1818 at the Villa Médicts. Pradier made his debut at the Salon in 1819 and quickly acquired a reputation as a competent artist. He studied under Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres in Paris. In 1827 he became a member of the Académie des beaux-arts and a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Pradier oversaw the finish of his sculptures himself. He was a friend of the Romantic poets Alfred de Musset, Victor Hugo, Théophile Gautier, and the young Gustave Flaubert, and his atelier was a centre, presided over by his beautiful mistress, Juliette Drouet, who became Hugo's mistress in 1833. After the liaison with Drouet ended, he married Louis d'Arcot in 1833 but they would separate in 1845.
The cool neoclassical surface finish of his sculptures is charged with an eroticism that their mythological themes can barely disguise. At the Salon of 1834, Pradier's Satyr and Bacchante...
Category
1830s French Antique James Pradier Figurative Sculptures
