Estimate

1.600 - 1.800

Session 2

23 November 2022

Hammer Price

Description

Menalcas Mopsus
Handled bowl in part patinated bronze, of Classical Greek style decoration with two moulded handles fixed to the body by two heads of the bearded Silenus crowned by floral wreaths.
The central medallion depicting the seated Menalcas, listening to Mopso playing the flute, with columns surmounted by a pitcher to the back of the figures
Marked Levillain. Fonte BARBEDIENNE (signed in full to base)

15x47 cm

Category

Objects

Additional Information

Ferdinand LEVILLAIN follows the teachings of the sculptor JOUFFROY (1806-1882), before entering the Salon des Artistes Français. His work stands out at the 1867 Universal Exhibition, in Paris, for a neo Greek style bronze vase of his authorship. In 1871, LEVILLAIN reaches notoriety thanks to his association with the renowned bronze caster Ferdinand BARBEDIENNE.
His works for BARBEDIENNE figure in the most relevant international museums, as is the case of a vase similar to the one herewith described, depicting the Education of Dionysus, belonging to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, or a jug with Silenus heads at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, as well as other artworks at the British Museum in London or at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
An example of this vase is also kept at the Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris (Menalcas and Mopsus, 2nd-half of the 19th century, inv. PPM675).
Exhibitions:
- 'Ferdinand Levillain, le théâtre des dieux', Orangerie des Musées de Sens, March 21st to September 21st 2015.
Literature:
Exhibition catalogue 'Ferdinand Levillain, le théâtre des Dieux', Orangerie des Musées de Sens, 21st March to 21 September 2015 (p. 62).