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Lot Essay
Born in Paris, Pierre-Louis Rouillard (1820-1881) studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Jean-Pierre Cortot (d. 1843), a monumental sculptor. He exhibited at the Salon frequently from 1837 until his death in 1881, showing over seventy models, mainly of animal figures and groups. He received numerous public commissions and examples of his work decorate the Louvre, the Opéra and the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris.
It is uncertain whether Rouillard would have modelled the set of eight bas-reliefs featured on these magnificent vases specifically for Val d'Osne's use, or whether each was a pre-existing work in its own right. However, the identical sounding subject-matter of a pair of bas-reliefs (Combat d'un lion et d'un tigre de Guzerate and Combat de taureaux bulgares) shown at the Salon in 1865 (see S. Lami, Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de l'Ecole Française au Dix-Neuvième Siècle, Vol. IV, pp. 194-7) and executed for a frieze on the Belerbey Palace being built at the time in Constantinople by Sultan Abdul-Aziz, would suggest that the latter is more likely.
Listing it in its trade catalogue as Vase 152, and with engravings illustrating it at one-twelfth actual size (see over page), Val d'Osne noted that this monumental model was conceived to accomodate any combination of two bas-reliefs from the set of eight available, allowing a client to choose according to their own personal preference.
It is uncertain whether Rouillard would have modelled the set of eight bas-reliefs featured on these magnificent vases specifically for Val d'Osne's use, or whether each was a pre-existing work in its own right. However, the identical sounding subject-matter of a pair of bas-reliefs (Combat d'un lion et d'un tigre de Guzerate and Combat de taureaux bulgares) shown at the Salon in 1865 (see S. Lami, Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de l'Ecole Française au Dix-Neuvième Siècle, Vol. IV, pp. 194-7) and executed for a frieze on the Belerbey Palace being built at the time in Constantinople by Sultan Abdul-Aziz, would suggest that the latter is more likely.
Listing it in its trade catalogue as Vase 152, and with engravings illustrating it at one-twelfth actual size (see over page), Val d'Osne noted that this monumental model was conceived to accomodate any combination of two bas-reliefs from the set of eight available, allowing a client to choose according to their own personal preference.