French 19th Century Neoclassical Style Statue of Mercury

A superb and high quality French 19th century Neo-Classical st. patinated bronze and ormolu statue. The statue is raised by a rectangular ormolu base with a most elegant and decorati...

An exceptional and extremely high quality French 19th century Neo-Classical st. Belle Époque period patinated bronze and ormolu statue of Demeter and Poseidon. The impressive statue ...

This very fine patinated bronze figural torchere modeled as a classically clad female musician holding a mandolin and a marble torch. This symbolic representation of Music, falls within Coutan’s allegorical work. We have a number of marble pedestals this Torchere would stand on. Inscribed on base: Coutan, Thiébaut Frères, Fondeurs. Jules-Félix Coutan (22 September 1848 – 23 February 1939) is considered to be one of the most gifted French sculptors and designers of the 19th and early 20th centuries Coutan studied under the renowned Pierre-Jules Cavelier at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1872; after his return to Paris he executed the fountain group France Bearing the Torch of Civilization for the Exposition Universelle (1889), one of the two prominent sculptural commissions for the Exposition grounds.[1] Later he taught at the École des Beaux-Arts from 1900, where he expressed his disdain for the researches of Rodin— fumiste—[2] and the Impressionist sculptors who followed him. Coutan was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1905.[3] Coutan is best known in the United States for the sculptural group above the entrance to Grand Central Terminal in New York City. For Grand Central Terminal, Coutan was contracted to provide a quarter-size scale plaster model of the three-figure allegorical Transportation group, which he developed from 1911 through 1914. The carving was performed by the William Bradley & Son of Long Island City.[4] Among Coutan's students were Hippolyte Lefèbvre, Raymond...

19th C. spelter sculpture. Unsigned.