Emmanuel Fremiet 1824-1910 Char de diane

an important and rare gilt-bronze sculptural group, signed E. FREMIET, with inscription F. BARBEDIENNE FONDEUR PARIS.

The Manufacture de Sevres produced thirteen works by Fremiet, but the most important of these was the Surtout de table commissioned in 1896. Chevillot has described in detail the intricacies of these orders. The two most significant models which originated in this way are the Char de Minerve and the Char de Diane. Both were exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in 1900. After protracted negotiations, Fremiet was allowed to pass on to the Barbedienne Foundry the rights to edit the two models in bronze. Fremiet designed the Char de Diane group as an example of high decoration and it is perhaps the best expression of his artistic contribution to the Belle Epoque. The Char de Diane shares a flamboyant fin-de-siecle decadence with many of the sculptural works by Gerome, his close friend and professional ally.