19th and 20th Century Sculpture
19th and 20th Century Sculpture
Auction Closed
July 10, 03:03 PM GMT
Estimate
7,000 - 10,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
RAOUL CHARLES VERLET
French
1857 - 1923
LA DOULEUR D'ORPHÉE (ORPHEUS' SORROW)
signed: Roaul Verlet, inscribed: F. BARBEDIENNE Fondeur. Paris, and stamped: REDUCTION MECANIQUE A. COLLAS BREVETE
bronze, brown patina
99.5cm., 39¼in.
This lively rendering of Orpheus shows his lyre and Cerebus, the three headed dog guarding the gates of hell, at his feet on a naturalistic looking base. Orpheus is shown in a state of anguish, as he broke his promise to Hades and looked back at his beloved Euridyce, and thus lost his chance to bring her back from the underworld. This cast shows a particularly beautiful patina with subtle coloration and natural wear.
The plaster model was first exhibited at the Salon of 1887 and a bronze version was erected in the Place Malesherbes but destroyed in 1942.
Verlet exhibited in the Salon between 1880 and 1914 and worked on several state commissions including the group of Les Arts at the Grand Palais.
RELATED LITERATURE
B. Kjellberg, Bronzes of the 19th century: dictionary of sculptors, Pennsylvania, 1994, pp.638-639
