Lot Essay
cf. Sotheby's New York, June 1986, lot 271 for a period photograph from the Cheuret family, illustrating a variant of the present model; Alastair Duncan, Art Deco Furniture, 1984, p. 43; Victor Arwas, Art Deco, 1980, p. 295.; John James Audubon, The Birds of America, London, 1827-1838, pl.CCXI
Albert Cheuret, who was trained as a sculptor by Jacques Perrin and Georges Lemaire, was fascinated by naturalistic themes which he implemented throughout his oeuvre. With the excavation of the Tutenkhamen tomb by Howard Carter in 1922, artists and decorators were stimulated to use a new language of decorative motifs depicting exotic animals. Cheuret produced a wide range of extravagant furnishings, with many works representing stylized animal forms, all cast in bronze, finely chased and of the highest quality. He took part in the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, setting up booth 33 on the Pont Alexandre III.
The two birds, represented in the above lot, apparently depict the Great Blue Heron or Ardea Herodias, as shown in Audubon's publication on American bird life (plate CCXI). Cheuret could very well have been influenced by this famous publication and possibly used Audubon's representation to create the realistic cast of the birds, a species found throughout the United States and probably Europe, which are found in close proxmity to fresh water or to salt water areas. Roger Tory Peterson and Virginia Marie Peterson in The Audubon Society Baby Elephant Folio, Audubon's Birds of America, (New York 1981) observe: "From coast to coast, and from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, this gaunt wader is familiar to people who live near the water. Many call it a 'crane', but cranes are more restricted to the inland prairies and always fly with their necks stretched full length. The Great Blue Heron in flight pulls its head back to its shoulders. Both birds have a wingspread equal to that of an eagle".
Albert Cheuret, who was trained as a sculptor by Jacques Perrin and Georges Lemaire, was fascinated by naturalistic themes which he implemented throughout his oeuvre. With the excavation of the Tutenkhamen tomb by Howard Carter in 1922, artists and decorators were stimulated to use a new language of decorative motifs depicting exotic animals. Cheuret produced a wide range of extravagant furnishings, with many works representing stylized animal forms, all cast in bronze, finely chased and of the highest quality. He took part in the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, setting up booth 33 on the Pont Alexandre III.
The two birds, represented in the above lot, apparently depict the Great Blue Heron or Ardea Herodias, as shown in Audubon's publication on American bird life (plate CCXI). Cheuret could very well have been influenced by this famous publication and possibly used Audubon's representation to create the realistic cast of the birds, a species found throughout the United States and probably Europe, which are found in close proxmity to fresh water or to salt water areas. Roger Tory Peterson and Virginia Marie Peterson in The Audubon Society Baby Elephant Folio, Audubon's Birds of America, (New York 1981) observe: "From coast to coast, and from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, this gaunt wader is familiar to people who live near the water. Many call it a 'crane', but cranes are more restricted to the inland prairies and always fly with their necks stretched full length. The Great Blue Heron in flight pulls its head back to its shoulders. Both birds have a wingspread equal to that of an eagle".