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Marion Feijen-Tullemans (Pays-Bas, 7/3/2011)
We recently acquired a bronze statuette (ca 50 cm high) by PRADIER founder E. DE LABROUË. We believe that the title of the artwork must be ÉTOILE DU BERGER LA NUIT dating 1846 and we understand that it is a quite rare example. Could you help us in any way? We want to thank you very much in advance for all the information you can provide.
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Douglas Siler (2/8/2011)
Please excuse this long delay, due in part to computer problems which have put me far behind in all my work. Your bronze statuette of Pradier’s Etoile du berger, La Nuit, is indeed very rare. Only one other example in bronze is known, 52 cm tall with no inscriptions, which was sold by the Galerie Tourbillon in Paris in 2006. It has a pendant called Étoile du berger, Le Jour. They both date from 1845-1846 and were commericalized by Salvatore Marchi, one of Pradier's main editors, in plaster and imitation terre cuite, 53 cm tall. Both are described in Claude Lapaire’s James Pradier et la sculpture de la génération romantique, published last year by 5 Continents Editions (Milano) and SIK ISEA (Lausanne). Several copies of this book are presently for sale on ebay. It can also be ordered from the online art book vendor, Dessin original.
Two vaguely similar statuettes called Le Jour and La Nuit, also casted by Labrouë, are often mistakenly attributed to Pradier. They, too, are described by Claude Lapaire, who attributes them to Joseph Michel-Ange Pollet and points out that this confusion may have resulted from the fact that the original marble of Pollet’s La Nuit, then entitled Une heure de la nuit, was exhibited at the 1850 Salon on the same pedestal as Pradier’s marble Atalante, as evidenced by an engraving which shows the two works side by side. Its marble pendant, Le Jour, originally intitled Le Crépuscule, seems to have been executed by Pollet much later, in 1867.
A « parian ware » edition of your statuette was sold on ebay on March 3, 2008. You can see it as well as several examples of Pollet’s two works in the Ventes (Sales) section of this website. Incidentally, I recently collaborated with M. Lapaire on a study intitled « Les Pradier made-in-China sont arrivés » which you can read here. Although we don’t mention Pollet’s works in that study, I found bronze and marble copies of them in the Chinese catalogs! However, as is usually the case in these catalogs, the sculptor’s name is rarely mentioned.
Can you tell me if you intend to put your statuette up for sale and, if so, when and where?
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Douglas Siler (15/8/2015)
With regard to my commentary above concerning the statuettes Le Jour and La Nuit attributed by error to Pradier, please see my new study Deux sculptures en quête d'auteur which identifies their author as Mathurin Moreau rather than Joseph Michel-Ange Pollet and shows that Pollet's Le Crépuscule is, in fact, a slightly modified version of his Une heure de la nuit. Moreover, the latter was not exhibited on the same pedestal as Pradier's Atalante at the 1850 Salon but on a separate pedestal next to it.
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Deux sculptures en quête d'auteur
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