Antique French Neoclassical Rococo Bronze Figural Group of Wine Bacchantes, After Clodion Circa 1860

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A fine antique bronze figural group of Bacchantes by Claude Michel (Clodion) ( 1738– 1814).
The bronze depicts a pair … Read more A fine antique bronze figural group of Bacchantes by Claude Michel (Clodion) ( 1738– 1814).
The bronze depicts a pair of bacchantes, the female followers of Bacchus the Roman god of wine and revelry (Dionysus was the Greek god). Both female figures are draped in Greco-Roman dress and wearing sandals, one bacchante is depicted standing & holding a fruiting vine, the other is kneeling next to a wine amphora with grapes. This bronze was first cast in 1762, this casting is most likely posthumous from the 19th century.
The bronze is finely cast by the lost wax method (cire perdue), the figures and detail are crisp and the bronze has a rich mellow patina. The bronze is in excellent condition and is ready to grace your home, unsigned.

Known simply as Clodion, Claude Michel was a French sculptor in the Rococo style, especially noted for his works in marble, bronze, & terracotta, he was born in Nancy to Anne Adam and Thomas Michel, an undistinguished sculptor. Anne was the sister of sculptors Lambert-Sigisbert Adam and Francois Gaspard Adam. In Nancy and probably in Lille he spent the earlier years of his life. In 1755 he came to Paris and entered the workshop of his maternal uncle Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, an established sculptor. He remained four years in this workshop, and on his death became a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. In 1759 he won the grand prize for sculpture at the Académie Royale. In 1761 he earned the first silver medal for studies from models. In 1762 he went to Rome, where his activity was considerable between 1767 and 1771.
Catherine II of Russia was eager to secure his presence in St Petersburg, but he returned to Paris. Among his patrons, which were very numerous, were the chapter of Rouen, the states of Languedoc, and the director generale. His works were frequently exhibited at the Salon. In 1782 he married Catherine Flore, a daughter of the sculptor Augustin Pajou, who subsequently obtained a divorce from him. The agitation caused by the French Revolution drove Clodion in 1792 to Nancy, where he remained until 1798, His energies being spent in the decoration of houses.
Among Clodion's works are a statue of Montesquieu, a Dying Cleopatra, and a chimneypiece at present in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 1782, he realized the decoration for the nymphaeum of the Hôtel de Besenval. His 1788 work Dance of Time is in the Frick Collection in New York. Another known sculpture is called "The Intoxication of Wine". One of his last groups represented Homer as a beggar being driven away by fishermen (1810). Clodion died in Paris, on the eve of the invasion of Paris by the forces of the Sixth Coalition. Clodion's work is housed in many of the premier museums & galleries around the globe, including:
Art Institute of Chicago
Bowes Museum (County Durham,UK)
Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Cleveland Museum of Art
Courtauld Institute of Art (London)
Currier Museum of Art (New Hampshire)
Detroit Institute of Arts
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Getty Museum (Los Angeles)
Honolulu Museum of Art
Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, Texas)
Kunstindeks Danmark
Louvre (Paris)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Musée Cognacq-Jay (Paris)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam)
National Museum of Art (Cluj-Napoca)
National Gallery of Armenia
National Gallery of Art (Washington D.C.)
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
Norton Simon Museum (Pasadena,California)
Philadelphia Museum of Art See less