AGATHON LÉONARD (1841-1923) FOR SUSSE FRÈRES, PARIS
'DANSEUSE À L’ÉCHARPE, GENOU LEVÉ' (DANCER WITH A SHAWL, RAISED KNEE), CIRCA 1901
£10,080
Auction: 11 October 2023 at 10:00 BST
Description
bronze, with later gilt patina, signed in the bronze A LÉONARD / SCLP, with SUSSE FRÈRES EDITEURS PARIS pastille, and stamped: M/ GENOU LEV*(É)/ ELECTRICEE
Dimensions
60cm high, 39.5cm wide, 19cm deep
Footnote
Literature: Alastair Duncan A. Art Nouveau and Art Deco Lighting, London, 1978, p.58, pl.20
Arwas V. Art Nouveau, The French Aesthetic, London, 2002, p.136
Duncan A. Louis C. Tiffany: The Garden Museum Collection, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2004, p.643
Note: This elegant figure in an elaborately draped dress belongs to a series of dancers conceived by Agathon Léonard, the Jeu de l'Écharpe, which was first exhibited at the Société Nationale des Beaux Art in 1897 as a project for a theatre foyer. The dancers in elegant poses are characterised by their delicate gestures, loose dresses and wide sleeves. They rapidly became Léonard's most popular works and were produced in gilt bronze by the Susse foundry. The present bronze is a large-size Susse Frères cast of the 'Danseuse à L’Écharpe, Genou Levé', model no.12, created between 1897 and 1899, the Susse edition produced from 1901. The carefully chased surface of the bronze produces a shimmer effect of light on the gilded surface.