Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux

Overall the condition of the bronze is excellent. There is some minor wear and there is some dirt to the surface consistent with age. There is a small chip on the bun and a small loss at the end of the hair.
"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.
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Jean-BaptisteCarpeaux first sculpted Anna Foucart's likeness in a portrait bust of 1860 of which there is a bronze version in the Musée d'Orsay. The museum also has a plaster mask; both portraits came from the Foucart family collection.

Carpeaux fell under the spell of the fourteen-year-old Anna Foucart in the summer of 1860 whilst on holiday in Valenciennes with the family of his friend the lawyer Jean-Baptiste Foucart. Her face, with its distinctive smile, a delicate blend of shyness and vivacity, became a motif running through some of Carpeaux's most celebrated models. The artist's admiration for the eldest of his friend's four children grew to love and he even went so far as to declare his affection and ask for her hand in marriage, shocking his friend who's reported response was 'Are you mad?' Anna went on to marry Paul Sautt, a lawyer who became Valenciennes' mayor. Nevertheless Carpeaux remained friendly with the family and Anna's brother Paul was closely involved in the Musée Carpeaux at Valenciennes and wrote its catalogue in 1882.
 
The present terracotta is unpublished and there are no other documented versions. Modelled by hand rather than moulded, the fresh surface is worked minutely with hatching on the lips and around the cheeks and softer manipulation of the clay in the hair with visible thumb prints. It captures Anna Foucart's distinctive smile, with its slight dimples in the cheeks as well as the shape of her face which retains the child-like quality of youth. A particularly lively likeness is created by the sweep of the hair over the raised shoulder and in the deeply cut eyes which seem to capture a glint under delicate brows.

As Carpeaux's muse Anna reappeared several times in his sculpture, most famously in his important relief The Triumph of Flora modelled in 1866 for the south façade of the Pavilion de Flore. Other models for which she was the muse include the busts La rieuse, Le Printemps and L'espiègle, the latter embellished with vine leaves through her hair as in the present bust. These were edited in terracotta and other materials. Another one-off likeness, the plaster Anna Foucart aux roses, was sold in these rooms on 26^th November 1998. Of the published, edited likenesses Le Printemps is one of the last to clearly replicate the features of Anna in 1870. Thus the most likely period for the creation of the present busts is in the decade after the first meeting of artist and muse in 1860.

RELATED LITERATURE
Jeancolas, p. 61; Poletti & Richarme (2003), no. BU29; Munk, pp. 92-3, 130-1 & 132-4; Musée d'Orsay, p. 90 RF3009 & RF3415