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Lot Essay
Emile Picault trained under Louis Royer, the Dutch sculptor, and exhibited a wide range of sculpture at the Salon between 1863 and 1909. His Egyptian subjects are some of his most popular works and follow in the tradition of ethnographical decorative sculpture so popular in France during the latter part of the 19th century.
The set, opulent and extensively detailed, is inspired by ethnographic findings of the mid-19th Century on ancient Egypt, nevertheless influences of theatre and costume design are also apparent. Travelers to the East have often recorded their journeys, either in writing or in pictures, but the movement of Egyptomania was far wider reaching than Egyptology. What elevated the latter to the status of the former is without a doubt the success of performing arts in recreating this era, in particular the opera Aida. Both the Cairo premiere as well as the Paris premiere of Aida created waves of sensation that influenced generations of artists from Alexander Cabanel to Cecil de Menil. In Aida the ruins were brought back to life in full color and three dimensions before the eyes of a generation that would make history as romantics, adventurers and expeditioners.
The present pair of bronzes was probably cast by G. Servant, a Parisian fondeur who specialized in Egyptian revival pieces and who was a medallist at the major international exhibitions between 1867 and 1887. Three comparable pieces to the present work were sold at Christie's New York, one in the di Portanova Collection sale, 20 October 2000, lot 91, another on 2 May 2001, lot 73 and another pair on 23 April 2002, lot 39.
The set, opulent and extensively detailed, is inspired by ethnographic findings of the mid-19th Century on ancient Egypt, nevertheless influences of theatre and costume design are also apparent. Travelers to the East have often recorded their journeys, either in writing or in pictures, but the movement of Egyptomania was far wider reaching than Egyptology. What elevated the latter to the status of the former is without a doubt the success of performing arts in recreating this era, in particular the opera Aida. Both the Cairo premiere as well as the Paris premiere of Aida created waves of sensation that influenced generations of artists from Alexander Cabanel to Cecil de Menil. In Aida the ruins were brought back to life in full color and three dimensions before the eyes of a generation that would make history as romantics, adventurers and expeditioners.
The present pair of bronzes was probably cast by G. Servant, a Parisian fondeur who specialized in Egyptian revival pieces and who was a medallist at the major international exhibitions between 1867 and 1887. Three comparable pieces to the present work were sold at Christie's New York, one in the di Portanova Collection sale, 20 October 2000, lot 91, another on 2 May 2001, lot 73 and another pair on 23 April 2002, lot 39.