Napoleon III Sculptures

This brown and gold patinated bronze figure was crafted by the French sculptor Paul Duboy. It features a little girl, psyche, standing on a naturalistic base. The bronze sculpture is set upon a round marble plinth...

Small 19th century patinated female bronze figure of the allegory of manufacture featuring a spindle, a hammer and a gear-wheel. The female figure holding up her light tunic and look...

Monumental 19th Century French Bronze Depicting Prince Hamlet & the Gravedigger, from Act V, scene i. of shakespeare's tragedy. Cast by Victor Thiebaut, Paris. Signed on base: Par Vor Thiebaut 1865. and Costa de B. Height: 51" (129.5 cm) Width: 33" (83.8 cm) Depth: 23" 58.4 cm) Victor Adolphe Thiébaut , born in 1828 and died in 1888 was one of the most illustrious founders of French art. He was the creator of the Art Foundry Thiebaut Brothers ,one of the largest and most prestigious art foundries in France during the 19th and 20th centuries. His achievements are visible throughout the world and especially in Paris. In 1849, after being associated with him, his father Charles Antoine Floréal left him the reins of the family foundry " Thiébaut & Fils ", a company manufacturing loops and medals, cylinders for printing canvas and paper, machine parts steam and other industrial objects made of bronze and copper. Two years later, in 1851, Victor Thiébaut decided to start a new activity of art foundry. He created the "Thiébaut Frères Art Foundry". It is from this time that the house will experience great prosperity and international artistic renown. Victor Thiébaut was a perfectionist. He believed that the perfection of cast iron was the main point of making a work. This way of thinking earned him the trust, the friendship and the advice of the sculptors of the time. The first works of Victor Thiébaut are exhibited throughout Europe. The London Exhibition in 1862 gave him the Knight's Cross of the Legion of Honor . That same year, he was elected mayor of the 10th arrondissement of Paris . Over the years, the fame of the Thiébaut Frères Art Foundry enabled the company to produce more and more important works in collaboration with prestigious artists. In 1860, Victor Thiébaut realized his first Parisian work: the fonts of "Agriculture" and the "Work" of Gumery. These works are visible on one of the fountains of the square-Émile Chautemps. In 1861, he produced a monumental work for the city of Paris: the bronze group "Saint Michael slaying the devil" by Duret, installed on the fountain Saint Michel. In 1863, another monumental work installed in the heart of the capital. Victor Thiebaut performs the statue of Napoleon I er , installed at the top of the Vendôme column . The statue was shot down in 1871 and repaired in 1875 by the Thiébaut Frères Art Foundry. Between 1864 and 1899, Victor Thiébaut realized many monumental works, still today, throughout the capital, including " The Triumph of the Republic ", place de la Nation , the "monument to Joan of Arc", place the Pyramids , the "Lioness of the Sahara", the Louvre palace , many works present in the Luxembourg gardens , the Tuileries gardens , the Jardin des Plantes , and in many other places. In 1878, the "Thiébaut Frères Art Foundry" cast the work " Charlemagne and its Leudes ", installed on parvis Notre-Dame . Victor Thiébaut died in 1888, leaving his sons Victor and Jules with orders for the family business. Until his last days, Victor Thiébaut worked on two monumental orders that will be completed and installed after his death. One of the most visible works made by the "Fonderie Thiébaut Frères" was undoubtedly the replica of the "Statue of Liberty", installed on the bridge of Grenelle ( Swan...

An Exquisite and Rare French Louis XVI Style Ormolu-Mounted Bloodstone Inkwell, circa 1875. A truly exceptional and jewel like quality inkwell encrier, made with the finest ormolu, mounted on bloodstone. A true collectors and one of a kind piece. Revival of the ancient régime in the late 19th century was paramount to the French furniture and bronze casting firms of the Belle Epoque. Imitation in the highest regard and replication of those tastes and styles was prevalent throughout the Paris Faubourg, where the most talented bronziers and ébénistes established their workshops. The present inkwell encrier recalls the late 18th century's obsession with hardstones - a taste expounded above all by the duc d'Aumont and, subsequently Marie-Antoinette. Such hardstone-mounted pieces, reminiscent of Renaissance schatzkammer objects, enjoyed a revived popularity at the end of the 18th century through the impetus of both the marchands-mercier and, more importantly, the hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs, where the duc d'Aumont himself established a workshop in 1770 specializing in the cutting and polishing of precious hardstones. This exceptional inkwell encrier, sumptuously-mounted with finely chased gilt-bronzes, incorporates a highly-prized material such as bloodstone. Sometimes called the Sunstone, the meaning of Bloodstone comes entangled in fascinating history. The Ancient Greeks held the Bloodstone as a gem with glorious powers. They referred to it as Heliotrope, which directly translates to Sunstone. It was believed to have heavenly healing powers gifted by the gods and most certainly when it came to healing all things related to the blood. Even as we move forward into the Middle Ages, the Bloodstone takes another mystical story under its wing. It was believed to be formed from Christ's blood. It was said that during the Crucifixion, a few red spots of his blood dripped...

Rare pair of large obelisks entirely veneered in Sicilian open scrub jasper. Gilt bronze applications adorn the all-round obelisks. In the upper part two...

A palatial, extremely rare, and important Napoleon III French ormolu and patinated bronze regulateur de parquet clock, by Louis-Constantin Detouche, Paris, circa 1850. The clock case made form the finest French ormolu, with 2 very large patinated bronze seated putti The white enamel dial Signed C. DETOUCHE/ PARIS. The clock movement is numbered 7064 and stamped with maker’s stamps C. Detouche RUE st. MARTIN and C. DETOUCHE 158 R. St MARTIN 160, with medaille d’argent stamp, on a serpentine part ebonized mahogany plinth. At over six feet tall, the present clock is impressive in scale and rare in Detouche’s oeuvre. While other large clocks were produced by the firm, few of this scale are so overtly decorative and usually incorporate greater mechanical complication. For example, a gilt bronze astronomical regulator clock...