Torse de femme (Torso of a woman)

The present, exquisitely rendered torso is that of the figure of Abondance in Aimé-Jules Dalou’s celebrated monumental group, Triomphe de la République (1879-1899), which presides over the Place de la Nation in Paris. The full-scale work is surmounted by a magisterial figure of La République bedecked in a Phrygian cap above a lion-pulled chariot surrounded by allegorical figures of Justice, Travail and Abondance. In 1879, Dalou submitted a sketch for the group to the competition for the new monument in the Place de la République in Paris. And, although Dalou’s sketch was not selected, it was acquired by the City of Paris which later commissioned a large cast by Thiebault frères for the Place de la Nation, where it was installed in 1899. Between 1879 and the monument’s ultimate installation, Dalou reworked several of the figures from his initial sketch resulting in a number of preparatory sketches for the larger group. The present bronze is closely based on a plaster sketch of the torso of the allegorical figure Abondance, depicted nude in keeping with the artistic tradition of creating studies of figures without their garments in order to fully and accurately articulate their anatomies, which dates to circa 1887-1889 and is today in the Petit Palais, Paris, (illustrated A. Simier, Jules Dalou, le sculpteur de la République, Exhibition catalogue, 18 April – 13 July 2013, Paris, p. 68, fig. 33). Casts were created by Susse Frères, Thiebault frères and Valsuani, with the present lot distinguished by its especially fine detailing and patina.