1880s French Antique Bronze Sculpture “Find in Pompeii!” by Hippolyte Moulin

Description: HIPPOLYTE ALEXANDRE JULIEN MOULIN French, 1832-1884 "Une Trouvaille à Pompéi" (A Find in Pompeii) Sand-cast and patinated bronze | Signed on base "Moulin", sealed with foundry cachet for Thiebaut Freres | a fine lifetime cast circa 1880 Item # 407FNR16W A very fine lifetime example of Hippolyte Moulin's "A Find in Pompeii" cast circa 1880, examples made prior to the turn of the century are quite scarce and exceedingly difficult to find. Particularly retaining the small statue raised in the figure's hand - the attachment of this element to the figure apparently was somewhat uniformly ill-conceived, as so many of the models that exist today are lacking this tiny (and most important) figure. The base is signed in script "Moulin" and sealed with the foundry cachet for Thiebaut. First conceived in 1863 and exhibited at the Salon of 1864 (no. 2718), it was subsequently acquired by the French Government for 7000 francs before being shown again at the Exposition Universelle of 1867 (group I, class 3, no 169). Today it sits on a pedestal in the Musée d'Orsay alongside the similarly contrapasto figure of "Winner of the Cockfight" by Alexandre Falguière. Both figures seem to derive inspiration from the figure of Mercury by Giambologna, which is perhaps hinted at in the positioning of the figure held gingerly in our young archeologist's upraised hand. Here he dances with a sense of utter joy, his shovel held gingerly over his shoulder, and having just found this beautiful statue in the ruins he raises his hand high to get a better look at it. The swirling dance of his body is one of sheer elation as the entire figure seems to be in endless motion. Artist Listings & Bibliography:Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de L'École Française, vol. III, Stanislas Lami, 1970, p. 490-492E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. IX, Gründ, 2006, p. 1411-1412Bronzes of the 19th Century: A Dictionary of Sculptors, Kjellberg, 1994, p. 519-520 Measurements: 18 1/8" H; base is 3 3/4" diameter Condition Report: Figure in hand very carefully reattached in-house. Trace rubbing wear to patina, including some rubbing to the inside of his upraised arm, back of the tiny statue in his hand, the shoulder blades, the shovel, edges of the base and other raised elements; all of this has naturally aged and makes the patina all the more vivid; natural changing in the colors of metals has resulted in the roman pins being visible in numerous joints. Some denting to rim of the base. Carefully cleaned and sealed in conservator's wax. A fine presentation. About silla | antiques & art Established in 2009, our 9000 square foot brick-and-mortar gallery is home to a carefully curated and catalogued inventory of furniture, decorative arts, paintings, sculpture and estate jewelry. Our company has long specialized in sculpture circa 1860 through 1930 and as such the gallery always has a very large collection of exceptional European and American sculpture available on display. The gallery is located at 117 W Burd Street in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania and is open by appointment only. We welcome your visit and would love to meet with you. For clients located outside of the area, we are always available to discuss items by video conferencing or by phone. SHIPPING We take shipping very seriously and maintain a fully equipped in-house packing facility to professionally package these important and delicate pieces. All packaging is handled by our staff and will generally consist of: Wrapping the item in several inches of heavy-duty bubble wrap with careful attention shown to pressure points, crafting the placement of the bubble wrap in a manner that allows delicate parts of the item to remain out of harm's way.The item is then placed into a tight-fitting carton with a void fill of either peanuts, Styrofoam, bubble wrap or a combination of the three to ensure it cannot move within the cartonThat carton is then double-boxed by placing it into an outer carton 2-3" larger on all sides with a dense void fill in the gap [note, paintings are generally not double-boxed but instead have a different packing methodology to properly protect the frame from pressure]All shipments are guaranteed to arrive safely. We fully insure all shipments and in the event of damage we will handle all of the details around the claims process. You are only required to send along photos, to hold onto the damaged item and all packing materials until the claims process is resolved and we also reserve the right to require the damaged item to be shipped back to us at our expense (a prepaid label will be issued) to qualify for a refund.

Price: 6500 USD

Location: Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2024-09-29T14:02:04.000Z

Shipping Cost: 49 USD