A French white marble figure entitled 'La Source' or 'Libellule'

BY MATHURIN MOREAU, LATE 19TH CENTURY

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A French white marble figure entitled 'La Source' or 'Libellule'
By Mathurin Moreau, Late 19th Century
Of a scantily-clad winged nymph sat on a rock carved with bullrushes and reeds, an upturned urn at its foot, on a shaped naturalistic base signed Math. Moreau and inscribed to the back Sé Faise de Sculpture d'Art 13
32¾in. (83.2cm.) high

Lot Essay

Mathurin Moreau (d. 1912) was the eldest brother of a successful and prolific family of sculptors. He worked on numerous public monuments, as well as a series of large decorative bronze statuettes, for which he is primarily famed. He became one of the administrators of the Val d'Osne foundry and it is likely that most of his own work was cast by this company. Moreau's career was long and successful and he exhibited at the Salon from 1848 up until the end of the century.

The present work La Source, also known as La Libellule (The Dragofly) and occasionally Ondine, was exhibited at the Salon in 1876 and subsequently edited in bronze.

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