Mathurin Moreau (1822-1912), The Return Of The Swallows

Bronze with brown patina, signed "Math. Moreau. ainé" on the terrace.
Cast during the artist's lifetime with founder's stamp "Susse frères".
Circa 1890

Dimensions:
Height with base 62 cm
Width 29 cm
Depth 29 cm


Description
Brown patina bronze allegory of love on a griotte marble revolving base, depicting a nymph seated on a rock surrounded by swallows.
Our lovely late 19th-century Art Nouveau bronze study is Signed "Math.Moreau.ainé" on the terrace and bears the stamp of the famous 19th-century foundryman Susse frères.

Biography Mathurin Moreau (1822-1912)
Mathurin Moreau was a French sculptor who worked in the traditional academic style of the 19th century. Born in Dijon, France, on November 18, 1822, he was the son of the famous sculptor Jean Baptiste Moreau. In 1841, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and the following year won the second Grand Prix de Rome with his sculpture Diodème enlevant le palladium. Several of his works are still on public display in Paris, including Cologne on the façade of the Gare du Nord, L'Océanie in the courtyard of the Musée d'Orsay and Zénobe Gramme in the Père Lachaise cemetery. In 1897, he received an honorary medal from the Salon de Paris and was elected mayor of the 19th arrondissement of Paris, a post he held until his death on February 14, 1912.


Biography of the Susse Frères foundry
The Susse Frères company, originally founded in 1758 in Paris, became one of France's leading art foundries and publishers in the 19th century. The Susse brothers developed bronze casting from the 1830s-1840s, acquired a foundry and signed publishing contracts with major sculptors; the company was particularly renowned for the finesse of its prints and the careful application of patinas. Susse has published and reproduced works and models by sculptors such as Pierre-Jules Mêne, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and Jules Dalou, and remains a benchmark for nineteenth-century bronzes