A Pair of White Statuary Marble Figures of Nymphs Bathing, On Pedestals

Description

A Pair of White Statuary Marble Figures of Nymphs Bathing, On Pedestals, After Maurice-Etienne Falconet (1716-1791) and Christophe-Gabriel Allegrain (1710-1795).

Each modelled as a classically robed nymph standing on a rocky base. On bleu turquin marble socles with gilt-bronze beaded frames. On white marble columnar pedestals carved with anthemion.

France, Circa 1880.

These figures of nymphs bathing are after prototypes by two of the most celebrated French sculptors of the eighteenth-century. Falconet’s figure, titled ‘Nymphe qui descend au bain’, was shown at the Salon of 1757. Allegrain’s figure, titled ‘Vénus sortant du bain’, was shown at the Salon of 1767. Both were given by Louis XV to Madame Du Barry for the château de Louveciennes. Allegrain’s full figure (174 cm high) is in the Louvre (Inv. No. MR 1747). Falconet’s full-sized figure is assumed lost, but his original small marble (80 cm high) is also in the Louvre (Inv. No. MR 1846).

Vénus sortant du bain’ by Allegrain, Christophe-Gabriel, 1767 https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010091955 (© Musée du Louvre / Public Domain).

Both were admired as exemplars of classical beauty, for being contemporary interpretations of the classical female nude indebted to the great Hellenistic marbles of antiquity, such as the Venus de Milo. They were complimented for capturing the essence of feminine grace of the eighteenth century. “The nude Bather’s chaste hairdo, small head, drooping shoulders and amphora-like silhouette are marked with the seal of the blasé refinements of the Louis XV era” (G. Levitine, The Sculpture of Falconet, Greenwich, 1972, p. 32).

The immediate success of both statues meant that they were reproduced countless times throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. They were made in full-scale and in reduction, in every medium; marble, terracotta, lead, bronze and even biscuit porcelain. Marble versions were always most desirable and most expensive.

Despite being by different sculptors, they were often paired because they complement each other so harmoniously. The subjects also make an attractive pairing, of before and after the bath. The present examples are exceptionally well-finished. They retain their original waxed patina. Intended for interior decoration, they benefit from being raised on gilt-bronze mounted bleu turquin bases and bespoke pedestals. The pedestals were clearly made for the statues, because they differ in height to accommodate the different height of the figures. Making the pair the same height overall when each is placed atop its respective pedestal.