catalog text
ANTOINE BOFILL
French, active 1880-1921
"Arabe en Prière" [Arab Man in Prayer]
Polychromed and patinated bronze | signed "Bofill", sealed with editeur cachet "Bronze Garanti Au Titre Paris" and cold-stamped with foundry mark [outline of a weight with "SP" inside], title plaque attached
Item # 311CSG30P-3
An exquisite cast after Antoine Bofill's model of an Arab Man in Prayer, these French Orientalist studies of the Arab and African nations found a large collecting audience in France and England. There was a fascination with what seemed like a timeless and unchanging traditionalism in these non-Western communities that piqued the nostalgia of collectors. The same sentiment that drove collectors to acquire landscape scenes of rural farms and buccolic animals gave a deep well for artists like Bofill to draw upon in preparing studies of the tribal communities of "The Orient". Much of the original material came from travel in Tunisia, which was easily accessible as a French colony and a favorite destination for painters and sculptors.
The present example is an exquisitely cast patinated and polychromed model depicting a wise older man, devout and entirely focused on his faithful prayers. His shoes are removed and he stands with his head slightly bowed - through the static bronze you can almost feel his lips moving silently.
We have a large selection of these Orientalist studies by numerous French sculptors, most of roughly the same size as they were intended to be collected to represent a larger picture of the tribes and peoples of the African and Arab countries. This is a particularly crisp and beautifully rendered example. We have found that models marked with the cold-stamped "weight" with "SP" set within it tend to be premium and of a higher grade than other examples. That is the case on this piece as well - a very fine and rather moving model.
Measurements: 13 1/4" H x 5 1/8" D x 4 1/4" W
Condition Report:
A very fine presentation, cleaned and polished, sealed in conservator's grade wax; relief to the patina in numerous areas throughout the man's garment, some presenting with oxidization that might suggest later patina touch ups; beautifully preserved; ready-to-place.