Leo Laporte-Blairsy Lighting

A very rare figural lamp by Léo Laporte-Blairsy, it depicts a mustached man in long robes carrying a Gothic lantern on post with his head held high. Tiny pieces of cut glass in iron astragals make up the three colored panels of the lantern, this accessible by raising the lid over a wire hinge to see the lightbulb within. The chiseling and finishing of the bronze is of self-evident excellence, the silky smooth surface finished in an even gold patina. It is raised over an original rouge marble base and is signed in the cast “Léo Laporte Blairsy“ and numbered along the back edge 58836 and 2. While his works regularly achieve well into the five-figures, the present lamp is priced very attractively due to its replaced lantern element (more visible when viewed at eye level). While all of his works are rightly considered rar e, only infrequently found on the open market, the present example is exceedingly uncommon. LÉO LAPORTE-BLAIRSY Born in Toulon on April 5th of 1865, Léo Laporte-Blairsy was the student of sculptors Jean-Alexandre Joseph Falguiére and Antonin Mercié. In 1894 he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français and won a third-class medal. In 1896 he won a traveling scholarship, a second-class medal in 1898 and finally a first-class medal in 1904. He achieved a silver medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1900 before becoming a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1903. Museum holdings of his works include “Le Réveil de Morphée” of 1894 in Toulouse at the Museum of Augustins, the “Allégorie de la Sculpture” of 1896 decorating the Toulouse School of Fine Arts and “L’Eprave” at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes. His bronze statuette of “Clémence Isaure” surmounts a fountain in Toulouse and several of his raised-relief plaques are held in the permanent collection of the Musée d’Orsay. He became one of the largest sculptors of Art Nouveau lighting beside his contem poraries Raoul Larche and Agathon Leonard. He is best known for La Voie Lactée...

A French Art Nouveau gilt bronze figural lamp by Leo Laporte-Blairsy. The lamp depicts a classically draped female raised on a circular onyx base. Her lift...