Offered by Tobogan Antiques
Numbered 695
Signed A. MERCIÉ and F. Barbedienne Fondeur Paris
Stamped Achille Collas Réduction Mécanique
Height : 67,5 cm (26,6 in.) ; Diameter base : 19 cm (7,5 in.)
Beautiful patinated bronze sculpture with gilded highlights representing a winged and armored Glory carrying a dying young warrior, his sword broken, to raise him to the heavens.
When war broke out against Prussia in 1870, Antonin Mercié, winner of the Prix de Rome in 1868, was at the Villa Medici. He then modeled a sketch representing Glory supporting a triumphant soldier, then, upon hearing of France’s defeat, he modified his initial project. Completed during the summer of 1872, it was his last work at the Académie de France in Rome. Mercié returned to Paris in 1874 and exhibited the original plaster cast of this Gloria Victis at the Salon under number 1737, which was a huge success, representing a defeated but heroic France. The work received the Grand Medal of Honor and was immediately acquired by the City of Paris. At the 1875 Salon, the bronze cast by Thiébaut & fils was also acclaimed. In 1879, the statue was temporarily placed in Square Montholon before being installed, in 1884, in the central courtyard of the Hôtel de Ville de Paris where it remained on display until 1930.
Biography :
Born in 1810, Ferdinand Barbedienne started at n°30 boulevard Poissonnière in Paris one of the most famous 19th century artistic bronze casting companies. He died in 1892. In addition to his personal production, he worked for famous old times artists or contemporary sculptors such as Auguste Clésinger, Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse and Louis Barrias. The success of Barbedienne’s firm brought him many official commissions, such in about 1860, as Barbedienne supplied bronzes for furniture for the Pompeian Villa of Prince Napoleon, located avenue Montaigne in Paris. Barbedienne’s production was always highly esteemed and he was, himself admired by contemporary art critics who compared him during the 1878 Universal Exhibition to a « prince of industry and the king of bronze-casting ». His glory did not decline with the passage of the time for at the Universal Exhibition of 1889 the critics thanked Barbedienne for the example he set for other bronze-casters by the perfection of his bronzes.
Achille Collas was a French engineer born in Paris in 1795, continuing his studies until 1814, when he joined the technical services of La Grande Armée. His main work, however, was on new engraving processes, including the Collas Process used for the Trésor de numismatique et de glyptique, designed by archaeologist Charles Lenormant and painter Paul Delaroche and published from 1831 by Goupil et Rittner, a work that won acclaim at the 1833 Salon. However, it was the invention of the pantograph, enabling any sculpture to be reproduced in any size, that made his company a success. Many artists turned to this new mechanical reduction process, such as the Venus de Milo or Harlequin, to distribute their works more widely. This process ensured him a major place in 19th-century production, a position that was reinforced by his collaboration with Ferdinand Barbedienne from 1845 onwards. This collaboration was marked by a number of successes, including a first medal at the London World’s Fair in 1851 and then at the World’s Fair in 1855. The company continued to flourish after the death of Achille Collas.
Marius Jean Antonin Mercié, born in Toulouse on October 29, 1845 and died in Paris on December 13, 1916, was a French sculptor, medalist, and painter. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and won the Prix de Rome in sculpture in 1868. His first major successes, earning him the Medal of Honor, were David and Gloria Victis, presented in Paris at the Salons of 1872 and 1874. The bronze statue of David is one of his best-known works, the large original bronze being kept in Paris at the Musée d’Orsay. At the 1882 Salon, he repeated the patriotic success of 1874 with the group Quand même!, commemorating the Belfort resistance during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and the loss of Alsace. Numerous other statues, busts, and medallions by his hand earned Mercié a medal of honor at the 1878 World’s Fair and the Grand Prix at the 1889 World’s Fair. Also a painter, he achieved success with his Venus at the 1883 Salon, Leda (1884), and Michelangelo studying Anatomy (1885).
