Dancing Faun signed E. Lequesne, Susse Frères founders

The patinated bronze sculpture depicts a nude faun, dancing and playing the flute.
He dances in balance on an inflated wineskin, in accordance with ancient custom, symbolising the instability of the character. At his feet lie other attributes of the bacchanalia: a tambourine, cymbals, a thyrsus, and a cluster of grapes.

Eugène-Louis Lequesne, a resident of the Villa Medici in Rome, took advantage of his stay in Italy to copy the Barberini Faun. Drawing on this experience, he was inspired by the ancient Dancing Faun, discovered at Pompeii and seen by him at the Naples Archaeological Museum, to sculpt his own Faun. He presented the plaster of the Dancing Faun at the Salon of 1850–51, where he received the First Medal for Sculpture. In 1852, he exhibited the bronze version.
The French State acquired the work, and it was shown at the Exposition Universelle of 1855, where Lequesne was awarded the Grand Prize for Sculpture and the Légion d’Honneur. The statue was later exhibited at the Musée du Luxembourg.

The statue bears the stamp and signature on its base: Susse Frères.
Founded in 1758, the Susse brothers’ firm became a foundry and art publisher at the beginning of the 19th century.

Susse editions are renowned for their remarkable casting quality. The foundry primarily used the lost-wax and sand-casting techniques, both ensuring great precision of detail. Reliefs are crisp, textures well defined, and patinas often deep and homogeneous.
Moreover, Susse bronzes display meticulous finishing: chiselling is sharp, and the junctions between parts are invisible. These qualities reflect the high standards typical of editions produced in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Height: 51 cm