catalog text
A PAIR OF 16TH CENTURY WARRIORS
After the models by Albert Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-1887)
Patinated bronze | Unsigned | circa late 19th century
Item # 106HLP17P
A good pair of late 19th century bronze castings after the models of 16th century warriors by Albert Ernest Carrier-Belleuse. They are unsigned, but a known pair executed as part of Carrier-Belleuse's series of warriors ancient through modern. The left figure probably represents a warrior of the Turkish Ottoman and carries a korseke pike with a garment of chain mail with a cape thrown over his shoulders and a hand-axe at his hip. The right figure partially withdraws a broad sword while casting a steady gaze upon his enemy from beneath a burgonet helmet.
Beautifully cast, both are crisply finished with perfectly smooth skin and well chiseled details throughout; they retain the original chemical surface patina with a warm brown base with hints of ruby-red over this and covered in a dark brown layer that is rubbed away to reveal the color depth below. A very nice complex surface that is beautifully preserved in both.
ALBERT ERNEST CARRIER-BELLEUSE
Apprenticed as an engraver at age thirteen beside the goldsmith Fauconnier in Paris, Carrier-Belleuse was later being accepted into the Ecole des Beaux-Arts based on the endorsement of David d'Angers in 1840. His early training became evident in his later work with bronzes as the minute and exceptional attention to small details required as a goldsmith eventually would give depth and life to his Romantic interpretation of the life around him.
Exhibiting a keen interest in porcelain, he was eventually named the director of Works of Art at the Sevres porcelain factory in Paris in 1875, many of his works being then interpreted into painted scenes manufactured by the firm.
Some of the most treasured works by Carrier-Belleuse include the extensive quantity of busts he produced, these capturing famous and less-than-famous artists, poets, musicians, writers, politicians, financiers and merchants of the time.
Nicknamed the "Clodion of the 19th Century" both by his contemporaries and by Napoleon III, his realist depictions were highly regarded and resulted in numerous lucrative commissions for public monuments during the Second Empire. His work is prominently listed and catalogued in most major works on bronze sculptors of the period.
Artist Listings & Bibliography:
- Art Bronzes, Forrest, p. 472 (biography), also extensive photography of Carrier works
- Bronzes of the Nineteenth Century: Dictionary of Sculptors, Kjellberg, p. 189-92
- Bronzes: Sculptors and Founders, Harold Berman
Measurements: 20 1/4" H (to the helmet) x 6 7/8" diameter (base)
Condition Report:
Minor wear to patina throughout from light handling over time. Professionally cleaned and sealed in beeswax, burnished and in very good overall condition. Underside interior of one base with intense verdigris, a reaction that occurred a very long time ago and remains stable.