Aimé-Jules Dalou

Overall the condition of the bronze is very good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. There are one or two small dirt marks, including to the back.
"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 29th April 1879 the City of Paris announced a competition for a monument to symbolise the strength and utopian dream of the Third Republic. Dalou heard about the competition while in exile in England following the Commune but knew that his pardon was shortly to be granted; he returned to Paris and submitted a plaster sketch. The earliest representation of this is the terracotta model in the Ashmolean Museum (see Hunisak. op. cit., fig. 105F). Dalou's sketch impressed the jury and he was commissioned to cast his scultpure in bronze, whereupon his monument would be installed in the Place de la Nation. This was by far Dalou's largest commissioned work: a vast multi-figure construction eleven metres high and requiring a record 42 tons of bronze.

Discussing the maquettes that Dalou made in preparing for his monuments, Dreyfous observed that 'maquette is not in essence the right word, because each of these statuettes was made as if it were destined to survive as a final work'.  Dreyfous describes the present study as 'a morcel of such beauty and so completely finished that it demands to be made into bronze'.  The present model is inscribed 'M', denoting this particular version as the chef modèle: the original bronze cast from which other casts were subsequently made.

A bronze study cast after a terracotta maquette for the figure of Fraternité was sold in these rooms in 2010 from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection for $25,000.

RELATED LITERATURE
M. Dreyfous, Dalou, sa vie, son oeuvre, Paris, 1903, pp. 123-124; A. Ciechanowiecki, Jules Dalou (1838-1965), exh. cat., Galerie Heim, Paris, 1965, p. 15; J.H. Hunisak, The Sculptor Jules Dalou, New York and London, 1977, pp. 207-229, figs. 105a-105W.