Offered by Marius Simon Antiquités
19th century and Art Nouveau furniture and objets d'art
Statue of a dancer entitled ‘Danseuse au Cothurne’ by the sculptor Agathon Leonard.
This statue shows a dancer in a large dress with puffed sleeves, putting her sandal back on. Agathon Leonard took his inspiration from the choreography of Loïe Fuller, a famous dancer of the time who used this type of outfit in her choreography. This subject was imagined as part of an important table centrepiece that the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres commissioned from the sculptor Agathon Leonard in 1898, and which was one of the great successes of the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris. This table centrepiece was made up of 15 figures, representing 15 different attitudes, and several figures were subsequently produced in biscuit by the Manufacture de Sèvre and then in bronze by the Susse publishers. Some of the statues in this series are now in museums, such as a bronze Dancer in the Museum of Applied Arts in Frankfurt. Danseuse à l'écharpe, pied gauche levé , 1898, Sèvres biscuit, Musée de La Piscine, Roubaix.
Our model here has a very beautiful golden patina and stands on an onyx base. It is in perfect condition with all its original parts. It is the largest model produced by Susse, measuring 57 cm. It is signed on the back ‘A Leonard sculpteur’ and has its founder's stamp ‘Susse frères editeurs paris’ with the letter M above.
