Lot 87
  • 87

EMMANUEL FRÉMIET | Chatte et ses Petits (Cat feeding her Kittens)

Estimate
12,000 - 18,000 GBP
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Description

  • Emmanuel Frémiet
  • Chatte et ses Petits (Cat feeding her Kittens)
  • signed and dated: E. FREMIET 1849
  • white marble
  • 25.5 by 62cm., 10 by 24 3/8 in. 

Provenance

Tuileries apartments of General Valliant, before 1871;
Sotheby's London, 21 April 2004, lot 81

Exhibited

Paris, Salon, 1850;
Paris, Exposition Universelle, 1855;
Nantes, Exposition Nationale des Beaux-Arts, 1861;
London, International Exhibition, 1862

Literature

T. H. Bartlett,'Emmanuel Frémiet', in The American Architect and Building News, vol. XXXI, no. 788, January, 1891, pp. 102-103;
J. de Biez, Un Maître imagier: E. Frémiet, Paris, 1896, p. 33;
C. Chevillot, Emmanuel Frémiet, 1824-1910: La main et le multiple, exh. cat. Musée de Dijon et Grenoble, 1988, pp. 75-76, no. S 24

Condition

The quality of the carving is very fine. Overall the condition of the marble is good with dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. The ends of the adult cat's ears are restored as is part of the her proper left front paw. There are smaller restorations to the forehead and to one of the kittens' ears. There are minor chips around the edges of the integral terrasse. There is veining to the marble consistent with the material including some lines of veining to the back of the adult cat's neck and to the proper left side of the neck. There are naturally occurring inclusions to the marble including to the body and neck of the adult and to the rug at the back.
"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

Tous les amateurs de la race féline voudrant avoir ce chef-d’oeuvre d’observation et de naturel.  (L’Illustration, 1849, p. 414) - 'All lovers of the feline race want to own this masterpiece of observation and naturalism.' The exhibition debut of Chatte et ses petits at the 1849 Paris Salon in plaster was Fremiet’s first great sculptural coup. Then aged twenty-five, over the previous five years he had shown only six modest works.  The assessment of the critic for L’Illustration magazine quoted above reflects the wide popular acclaim this work received on its first public exhibition. 

Coupled with the critical applause came official state recognition when, on 6 October 1849, Fremiet was commissioned by the state to carve Chatte et ses petits in marble for the price of 2,000 francs. The government also covered the cost of the marble, which is recorded to have been a block from Carrara worth 500 francs. Though known primarily as a sculptor of animals in bronze, Fremiet in this work made use of the unique qualities of white marble to represent his feline subject with a lively rendering of textures and detail. The cat’s anatomy and fur are treated with astonishing scientific accuracy, tempered by an illusionistic treatment of the surface which brings to life the softness of the feline’s coat. The mother lifts her right leg to reveal the writhing bodies of two small, eagerly feeding kittens. Unperturbed by this event, the mother cat relaxes with half-closed eyelids and a languid stretching of her left arm.

This exquisite marble was Fremiet’s first state commission, and it is perhaps not insignificant that, despite the intimate and lifelike nature of the subject, there is a monumentality to the composition that allows for symbolic interpretation. It could be argued that Fremiet’s marble echoes the idea of the state nurturing its people, a veiled political statement that would have appealed to the sculptor’s new patrons. In his conception of Chatte et ses petits, Fremiet may also have been inspired by ancient Egyptian representations of the subject as Bastet, the patron saint of the home. Ultimately, however, the marble epitomises the animalier movement in French sculpture, with its combination of the everyday with the ideal, the Romantic with the scientific.

Encouraged by his success, Fremiet sent his marble Chatte to numerous shows, culminating with the International Exhibition in London in 1862; this was followed by several exhibitions of the model in bronze. The state-commissioned marble was placed in the Tuileries apartments of General Valliant, Marshal of France and housekeeper to Napoleon III., and was long thought to have been destroyed in the Tuileries fire of 1871 (see Barlett, op. cit., p. 103).  However, it is clear that the marble commissioned by the state was one and the same as that sent to the International Exhibition: the Imperial Government is listed as the lender in the London 1862 catalogue, so there is every reason to suppose that Fremiet made only one example in marble. The existence of the present, extremely fine, marble appears to prove that Fremiet’s celebrated work in fact survives.

As the original and unique Salon marble of Fremiet’s first important animalier group, and his first state commission, the present marble is a highly significant and iconic work among the artist’s existing corpus. Bartlett (op. cit., p. 102) described Chatte et ses petits as ‘long since regarded as one of the most charming things he ever made: a little masterpiece’.