Jean-Auguste Barre

Overall the bronze is in excellent condition. There are some minor scratches and wear to the surface consistent with age particularly to the nose, proper right cheeck and right forearm. Casting joints are slightly visible at the left shoulder and the waist. There is some greening to the base.
"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."

On 22nd August 1838 a troupe of Indian dancers performed at the Théâtre des Variétés, Paris. In a review of the performance the poet and critic Théophile Gauthier recognised the movements which Auguste Barre had already transcribed into bronze in this model, describing them as 'lively and full of joy, with the dancers bending back and lifting their heads with infinite suppleness.' Barre's portrait of Amany, one of the principal dancers of the troupe, stands in fascinating contrast to his enduringly popular depiction of the much-loved ballerina, Fanny Elssler. Fanny's European decorum in tightly corseted lace and satin, with figured stockings and tiny slippers finds in Amany its exotic counterpart. Heavily bejewelled and barefooted, as Gauthier wrote 'There could not be a more adorable pendant to the delightful figurine of Fanny Elssler.'

Barre's interest in the theatre led him to portray many of the actresses and dancers of his day. Amany is typical of the minute attention to detail and characterisation of the genre. Announced in publications such as Magazin Pittoresque, it was conceived and marketed to the general public as a statuette, completely independent of the Salon system. Amany's Indian costume was a perfect vehicle to demonstrate both the engraver's eye for precision, and the new methods of sand-casting bronze in high quality multiples.

For Gautier it was the strong verisimilitude of Barre's observation which evoked the beauty of the actual woman, as the critic described in La Presse in August 1838:

'All the vitality of the features seems to have settled in those miraculous eyes, for the rest of her face is as immobile as a bronze mask, only a suspicion of a smile slightly parting the lips to give life to such tranquility. Amany's adornment is as strange and charming as her person. A yellow line, drawn with a brush and renewed every day, stretches down her forehead from the parting of her hair to the meeting of her eyebrows. The deep black of her hair, parted in coils and plaited in the fashion of the Swiss, throws into relief the sparkling brilliance of the tinsel and glass jewellery with which she is bedecked... The tresses are intertwined with threads of gold and silk tassels. A more extravagantly graceful or coquettishly alien hair style cannot be imagined'.

RELATED LITERATURE
I. Guest, Gautier on Dance, London, 1986, pp.41-9, 135