French Orientalist Bronze Sculpture of North African Berber Boy by Marcel Debut

Description: MARCEL DEBUT French, 1865-1933 "Berber Drinking Water" Polychromed and patinated bronze | signed "Debut", sealed with editeur cachet "Bronze Garanti Au Titre Paris", applied plaque attached "PRIX DE ROME" Item # 311CSG30P-7An lovely cast after the original model by Marcel Debut of a North African Berber Boy Drinking Water from a large pottery vase, these French Orientalist studies of the Arab and African nations found a large collecting audience in France and England. There was a fascination with what seemed like a timeless and unchanging traditionalism in these non-Western communities that piqued the nostalgia of collectors. The same sentiment that drove collectors to acquire landscape scenes of rural farms and buccolic animals gave a deep well for artists like Marcel Debut to draw upon in preparing studies of the tribal communities of "The Orient". Much of the original material came from travel in Tunisia, which was easily accessible as a French colony and a favorite destination for painters and sculptors. The present example is a lovely model with an overall reddish patina, achieved first with a chemical base and then with layers of various "secret" pigments laid up on the surface to achieve the hue. Other colors are used in the skin, garment and vessel to create a distinction between the various elements.ARTIST Born to sculptor Jean Didier Debut in Paris on March 27th of 1865, Marcel Debut studied first with his father and then at the École des Beaux Arts under Henri Chapu. He began to exhibit at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1883, including such works as Sommelier du XVe siècle (1889), Petit Pêcheur au harpon (1893), Actéon (1897), Le Génie des arts (1898), Une gueuse (1905), Watteau (1890), a vase with the theme of Persée et Andromède (1896), Labourage (1898) and L'Hiver(1913). He also executed numerous vases and bas-reliefs, designed some models for Sèvres to manufacture as statuettes and a bronze called Le Fauconnier which was offered at 85 cm in total height. In 1895 he received an honourable mention for his submission. Beyond his sculptures, he also dedicated himself to painting having studied under both Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre at the Academy; these views are often scenes of Paris. He died in 1933.Artist Listings & Bibliography:Bronzes: Sculptors & Founders, 1800-1930, vol. IV, Berman, Abage, 1980, p. 949, ill. 3637E. Benezit Dictionary of Sculptors, vol. IV, Gründ, 2006, p. 541Bronzes of the 19th Century: A Dictionary of Sculptors, Kjellberg, Schiffer, 1994, p. 266-267The Dictionary of Western Sculptors in Bronze, Mackay, Baron, 1977, p. 95Art Bronzes, Forrest, Schiffer, 1988, p. 473 [biography] Measurements: 15 1/8" H X 5 7/8" D X 4 3/8" WCondition Report: A very fine presentation, cleaned and polished, sealed in conservator's grade wax; some rubbing wear to the edges of the base and a few areas in the figure, loss to patina on the top of his foot through his shin and scuffing to the other foot; rubbing wear to his elbows; ready to place. About silla | antiques & artEstablished in 2009, our 9000 square foot brick-and-mortar gallery is home to a carefully curated and catalogued inventory of furniture, decorative arts, paintings, sculpture and estate jewelry. Our company has long specialized in sculpture circa 1860 through 1930 and as such the gallery always has a very large collection of exceptional European and American sculpture available on display. The gallery is located at 117 W Burd Street in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania and is open by appointment only. We welcome your visit and would love to meet with you. For clients located outside of the area, we are always available to discuss items by video conferencing or by phone.SHIPPINGWe take shipping very seriously and maintain a fully equipped in-house packing facility to professionally package these important and delicate pieces. All packaging is handled by our staff and will generally consist of: Wrapping the item in several inches of heavy-duty bubble wrap with careful attention shown to pressure points, crafting the placement of the bubble wrap in a manner that allows delicate parts of the item to remain out of harm's way.The item is then placed into a tight-fitting carton with a void fill of either peanuts, Styrofoam, bubble wrap or a combination of the three to ensure it cannot move within the cartonThat carton is then double-boxed by placing it into an outer carton 2-3" larger on all sides with a dense void fill in the gap [note, paintings are generally not double-boxed but instead have a different packing methodology to properly protect the frame from pressure]All shipments are guaranteed to arrive safely. We fully insure all shipments and in the event of damage we will handle all of the details around the claims process. You are only required to send along photos, to hold onto the damaged item and all packing materials until the claims process is resolved and we also reserve the right to require the damaged item to be shipped back to us at our expense (a prepaid label will be issued) to qualify for a refund.

Price: 2200 USD

Location: Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2024-03-17T10:15:00.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD