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84 - Frédéric-Eugène Piat (1827–1903) and Louis Léon Marchand (18…
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Estimate €8,000 - €10,000
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Frédéric-Eugène Piat (1827–1903) and Louis Léon Marchand (1831–1899) Minerva 1862 Bronze statue with a dual patina of gold and silver, accented with red and black dry-paint highlights Central element of the Neo-Greek fireplace displayed at the 1862 London Great Exhibition Total height including the spear: 123 cm Provenance: private collection, Normandy Exhibitions: 1862: Great Exhibition, London 1867: Exposition Universelle, Paris 1876: Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia Related work: -Frédéric-Eugène Piat, Fireplace plaque decorated with a Medusa head, 1862, cast iron, 112 x 126 cm, Troyes, Musée Saint Loup de Troyes, inv. no. 897.19.1. Bibliography: -Auguste Luchet, ‘Courrier de l’exposition internationale, Bronzes d’art, M. Marchand’, in *Le Monde illustré*, 4 October 1862, Paris, 1862, pp. 219–221; -Edited by Michel Chevalier, Exposition universelle. 1862. London, Reports by members of the French section of the international jury on the exhibition as a whole, Paris, Imprimerie et Librairie centrale des chemins de fer de Napoléon Chaix et Cie, 1862, p. 355; - J.B. Waring, W.R. Tymms, *Masterpieces of Industrial Art and Sculpture at the International Exhibition, 1862*, London, Day & Son, 1863, Volume 1, plate 31 (colour lithograph depicting the fireplace); - Auguste Luchet, French Industrial Art at the 1867 World’s Fair: Furniture, Clothing, Food, Paris, Librairie internationale, 1868, p. 320; - France Roulleaux-Dugage, Higher Commission. Reports. International and Universal Exhibition of Philadelphia, 1876, Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, 1877, p. 318; - Victor Champier, Museum of Troyes.... Decorative Art (Piat Museum). Descriptive and Catalogue Raisonné [by Louis Le Clert], preceded by a biographical note on Mr F.-E. Piat, p. 11, entry 83, p. 69; - Yves Devaux, The World of Ornaments in Bronze and Cast Iron: Masterpieces and Curiosities, Paris, Pygmalion, 1978, p. 281; - National Galleries of the Grand Palais, Art in France under the Second Empire, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Editions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1979, p. 154; - Vincent Lorion, The Work of Frédéric Eugène Piat at the Musée Saint-Loup in Troyes – Master’s thesis supervised by Danielle Quéruel, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Troyes University Centre, Master’s in the Protection and Promotion of Cultural and Environmental Heritage, September 2013, Vol. 1, p. 11, p. 34 ff., Appendix Vol.: Catalogue of Works, p. 10, pp. 11–17, and Appendices: C.26, p. 67; E1, p. 106 This imposing statuette of Minerva, cast in gilded bronze, formed the centrepiece of the famous monumental Neo-Greek-style mantelpiece—which evoked an altar dedicated to the goddess of war—created by Eugène Piat for the Marchand firm in 1862. Designed specifically for the 1862 Great Exhibition in London, this mantelpiece was immediately hailed as a masterpiece of French decorative arts and has become emblematic of the Neo-Greek movement, which was then enjoying a revival. The monumental ensemble was described in these terms in V. Champier’s ‘Biographical Note on Frédéric Eugène Piat’ in the first catalogue of the Musée d’art décoratif de Troyes, published in 1897 (p. 11): ‘Among the most prominent bronze casters of the time was Mr Marchand, who, in order to make a striking impression at the Great Exhibition in London in 1862, secured by contract the exclusive collaboration of Eugène Piat. Piat set to work immediately and produced, amongst other pieces, a monumental mantelpiece in the Neo-Greek style, which may be regarded as one of his masterpieces. It stood approximately six metres high and featured marble and polychrome bronze. A gilded bronze statue of Minerva stood at the centre, set against a background adorned with graceful designs. On either side of the hearth, bronze bas-reliefs depicted priests officiating in the temple. The hearth was a marble mosaic, and the andirons, each cast in a single piece, were made of burnished and gilded iron. On either side of the fireplace stood beautiful candelabra, also in wrought iron. Unfortunately, this important work has been lost. Shipped to a buyer on a vessel that was lost at sea, it now lies at the bottom of the ocean. Mérimée, the famous writer, praised its ‘scholarly attention to detail and the finesse of its execution’. The work was subsequently exhibited in 1867 at the Paris World’s Fair, and then in 1876 in Philadelphia, where it met with the same public enthusiasm. In 1867, the fireplace once again attracted attention: ‘These designs are always worth revisiting.’ How vivid and widespread was the success this year of Mr Marchand’s marble and bronze hearth, a piece to which we shall return—the acclaimed glory of the sculptor Piat, though it had arrived all too soon in London in 1862? At first we are offended and jealous of what astonishes us; then comes fairness, and our brows furrow. We have reflected. Faced with extraordinary works, the initial reaction is almost always negative; reason must have had time to soothe our pride’. In 1876, despite organisational difficulties, Marchand was one of the few bronze artists to exhibit at the Philadelphia Exhibition in the United States: ‘Mr Marchand, in one of the most prominent spots, amidst a vast display, showed us his principal piece from the 1867 Exhibition, a large marble and bronze mantelpiece, with which nothing in the foreign sections—so meagre—could compare; his footstool from the Vienna Exhibition, serving as a central flowerpot, followed by a select collection of mantelpieces, floor lamps and statues, which made one regret the decision taken by the American organisers to award a single medal.” This exhibition on the other side of the world cemented the sculptor’s lasting international recognition. Although no further details of this event have been found, the work is believed to have been completely lost in a shipwreck in the Atlantic between 1876 and 1897, with the exception of the cast-iron hearth plate preserved at the Troyes Museum (inv. no. 897.19.1) The reappearance of the statuette of Minerva, however, casts some doubt on the veracity of this account, or at the very least obscures it even further. As the centrepiece of the composition, the statuette of Minerva, standing proudly with her spear in hand, formed its central and symbolic visual element. Its identity has been established with certainty by comparing it with two contemporary engravings, published in *Le monde illustré* in 1862 and by Waring and Thymms in 1863. This central piece of the monumental mantelpiece, which was thought to have been lost, now appears to be the sole significant surviving example of this masterpiece by Eugène Piat. Expert: Cabinet Sculpture et Collection LACROIX.JEANNEST Information for buyers: All necessary export formalities shall be the responsibility of the purchaser.
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