Lot 45
  • 45

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux

Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 GBP
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Description

  • Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
  • la frileuse
  • signed: Jbte Carpeaux and inscribed: Boudet Paris

  • white marble

Condition

Overall the condition is very good. There are two patches of dark veining on the end of the nose and the chin. These appear to be natural veining in the marble. The surface of the marble has overall old dirt resulting in a generally greyish colour to the surface. There are one or two small brownish marks on the belly. Her left knee has a surface abrasion and her left big toe is damaged. The area around the base and her right foot has more extensive dirt. Otherwise the condition is very good with many areas of fresh original chiselling and good levels of polish
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

In the spring of 1871 Carpeaux and his family fled the bloody turmoil of the Paris Commune and took refuge in London. He was following in the footsteps of his great patron, the deposed Emperor Napoleon III. The sculptor installed his family in lodgings in Brompton Square and, deprived of his lucrative public commissions, he began to concentrate on a series of lyrical female figures intended to appeal to a wider market. One of the most notable models he produced in London was La Frileuse.

This newly-discovered life-size marble version of La Frileuse is unrecorded in the literature. However, it is known that Carpeaux intended to exhibit a version of the subject at the Royal Academy in 1871. Claude Jeancolas tells how it was refused by the jury as they did not recognise the sculpture as a work by the great French master. The president of the jury later visited Carpeaux to apologise in person for the oversight. It is possible that the present marble version is that intended by Carpeaux for the Royal Academy exhibition. It could have been made in the large studio the sculptor hired opposite Regents Park, where he also carved his Daphnis et Chloé for Lord Ashburton.  

As a life-size marble, the present sculpture is extremely rare in the oeuvre of Carpeaux. Very fine chisel marks across the surface give the piece an air of spontaneity, which matches the lissom modelling of the nude and the blithe spirit of the subject. The sculptor captures a swooping movement as the girl curves and twists, her right foot raised entirely off the ground as she appears to jump from her tree-trunk seat.

In addition to the signature the marble is inscribed Boudet Paris. This inscription appears on another marble by Carpeaux – his Flore Accroupie in the collection of the Valenciennes Museum. In the 1978 catalogue of the collection this inscription was assumed to be the signature of a practicien. However, it is the mark of the Paris retailer the Maison Boudet and appears on numerous sculptures, clocks and pieces of furniture which passed through their hands. The retailer is recorded by Denise Ledoux-Lebrard as based at 43, boulevard des Capucines from 1886 and at 8, place Vendôme from 1908 until the outbreak of the First World War.

A 22cm clay sketch for La Frileuse is in the collection of the Valencienne Museum. It has sometimes been mistaken as a study for Carpeaux's Suzanne Surpris, edited a year later in 1872, but it depicts a standing figure, rather than a seated one, and the delicately turned nude, bent at the waist, very much recalls the present model. La Frileuse was produced as a commercial edition and the majority of the edition was produced by Carpeaux and his heirs in bronze and terracotta, whilst later, smaller editions were made by the founders Colin and the Susse frères. A small-scale bronze cast is in the collection of the Neue Pinakotek, Munich.

RELATED LITERATURE
M. Poletti and A. Richarme, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux sculpteur, Paris, 2003, pp. 92-3, no. SE14; Neue Pinakothek: Katalog de Gemälde und Skulpturer, Munich, 2003, p. 46; A. Hardy & A. Braunwald, Catalogue des peintures et sculptures de Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux a Valenciennes, cat. Musée des beaux-arts, Valenciennes,1978, pp. 91-2, nos. 192 & 201-2 ; C. Jeancolas, Carpeaux, La farouche volonté d'être, Lausanne, 1987, pp. 164 ; D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le mobilier français du XIXe Siècle, 1795-1889, Paris, 1994, p. 95