MOREAU-VAUTHIER, Augustin-Jean

Une Florentine

A Florentine Lady

c. 1882

ivory, gilt on silver, pearls, onyx 71.446 Measurements 18 in. (45.7 cm) Geography

bust

Dimensions (HxWxD): H. 18 in.

Acc. No.: 71.446

Credit Line: Acquired by Henry Walters, 1898

Photo credit: The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

© Artist : public domain

Baltimore, Maryland, The Walters Art Museum

thewalters.org

Provenance

• New York, NY, Tiffany & Co.
• 1898, Baltimore, Henry Walters, by purchase
• 1931, Walters Art Museum, by bequest

Bibliography

• Museum's website, 5 December 2011
• 1893 New York Times
  Moreau-Vauthier, Obituary, New York Times, February 1, 1893, p. 2: "... whoever wishes to verify the praise of his merit may see at Tiffany's his "Marie de Médicis", one of his most beautiful works" (this work?)

Exhibitions

• 1882 Salon
  Salon, Paris, 1882, n° 4685 (Tête de femme, buste en ivoire et orfèvrerie) (peut-être celle-ci ?)
  
  1892 Paris
  Salon, Paris, 1892, n° 2912 (Tête florentine, buste, ivoire et bronze) (sans doute celle-ci)
  
  1893 Chicago
  World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, May 1-October 30, 1893, Class K-Fine Arts, no. 116: A Florentine Head (probably this one)

Comment

• Museum's website, 5 December 2011:
  A lady carved of ivory wears a silver-gilt lace collar set with pearls. She recalls images of Marie de' Medici (1573-1642), the queen of France, as painted by the Flemish 17th-century masters Peter Paul Rubens and Frans Pourbus the Younger. Moreau-Vauthier who sculpted in bronze, marble, and terracotta, is especially known for his work in ivory and chryselephantine (a combination of ivory and silver or gold). An eclectic sculptor, he was equally adept at the Gothic, Renaissance, and Rococo styles.