ALFRED BOUCHER | LA TOILETTE

J. Piette, Alfred Boucher 1850-1934: L'oeuvre sculpté, catalogue raisonné, Paris, 2014, p. 250, no. A60-2

The present three-quarter relief is part of a number of variations carved by Boucher which show his fascination with the effect of representing soft skin against rough rock. Perhaps best known are Volubilis, L'Histoire and La Philosphie de L'Histoire, all conceived in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Jacques Piette, in his recent catalogue raisonné, lists only three known versions of the model, all in marble, of which the present lot is the only one with the irregular rockface reaching to the top of the relief.