Jean-Baptiste Auguste Clesinger (French, 1814-1883),After the Antique Two Female Figures

Description:

Jean-Baptiste Auguste Clesinger (French, 1814-1883),After the Antique

Two Female Figures, cast as two reclining Classical women in copious drapery, medium brown patina with areas of verdigris, with Barbedienne foundry mark and A. Collas reduction seal, on an ovoid black marble base, lg. 20 1/2 in.

N.B. Clesinger modeled his group on two figures from the east pediment of the Parthenon, now at the British Museum. The originals lack heads and arms, so Clesinger took artistic liberty with these features. Scholars think the figures represent either Dione and Aphrodite or a personification of the sea in the lap of the earth.

Literature: Catalogue des Bronzes d'Art F. Barbedienne, Recompenses Obtenues dans les Expositions Universelles,: Paris, 1886, p. 21.
Estimate $2,500-3,000

No repairs or alterations. With original patina and some areas or verdigris. Scattered light surface abrasions. 19th century.

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