Modernist Bronze Sculpture of a Roaring Panther by Adolphe Geoffroy & Susse

Details

Description

ADOLPHE LOUIS VICTOR GEOFFROY
French, 1844-1915

"Panthére Rugissant"

Patinated lost-wax cast bronze | signed "J. Geoffroy" captured directly from the … Read more ADOLPHE LOUIS VICTOR GEOFFROY
French, 1844-1915

"Panthére Rugissant"

Patinated lost-wax cast bronze | signed "J. Geoffroy" captured directly from the mold | "Susse Fre. Paris / Cire Purdue" and Susse cachet to edge

7 3/8" H x 9 15/16" W x 4" D

The vigorously modeled figure of Roaring Jaguar was executed in the modernist taste with a light impasto to the surface; it is an exquisite casting that perfectly captures the careful working of the wax. There is a powerful allusion to the ferocity, agility and curious personality of the panther. The model is finished in a complex variegated green patina with remnants of plaster in the crevices of the model. It is signed in the base, this signature captured directly from the wax with the raised edges of the stylus working the wax clearly visible in the poured bronze. The base is sealed with the foundry cachet and inscriptions for the house of Susse.

For the same casting of the present example finished in a dark brown surface patina, see Hargesheimer Kunstauktionen Duesseldorf, "Old Master Paintings & Sculpture", 11 September 2021, lot 2441, hammer price of 3000 euros for a total of 3900 euros with buyer's premium (approx. $ 4600 USD at the exchange rate of 1.18 at the time of the sale).

Condition:
Original patina, excellent condition.

Biography
Born on February 27th of 1844 to sculptor, silversmith and metal artist Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume in 1844, Adolphe Louis Victor Geoffroy was first the student of his father and eventually his partner. They presented exceedingly good works at the major exhibitions in France as Adolphe Louis Victor began to associate more as a sculptor than as a decorative artist. They worked together regularly with the foundries of Delafontaine, Thiebaut and Susse, associations that would benefit the younger Geoffroy into the future as he had much of his work executed in those houses. He began exhibiting by himself at Salon in 1861 with Lévrier d'Afrique in plaster, a model he would exhibit again in bronze in 1863. His range was broad and would include a consistent mix figurative, genre, portrait animal sculpture. He sent works to the Salon almost every year after 1861, and his animalier submissions include Cheval à l'abreuvoir in 1866, Panthère d'Algérie in 1869, Lion du Soudan in 1880, Panthère de Cochinchine in 1881 and showing it again in 1883, Lion et Lionne in 1889 (and subsequently cast by Thievaut in bronze for placement in Parc floral des Thermes in Aix-les-Bains, France, Tigre et antilope and Panthère rugissant in 1890 and Tigres in 1892. He was a member of the Société des Artistes Français starting in 1883, was awarded a third-class medal in 1875 and a second-class medal in 1889. He died in Paris in 1915.

References:

E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, vol. VI, Gründ, 2006, p. 37 [biography]
Dictionnaire illustré des Sculpteurs Animaliers & Fondeurs de l'antiquité à nos jours, vol. I, Jean-Charles Hachet, p. 349, "Roaring Panther" illustrated
Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de l'École Française, vol. III, Stanislas Lami, 1919, p. 47-49
Bronzes of the Nineteenth Century: A Dictionary of Sculptors, Pierre Kjellberg, 1994, p. 356 [biography]
The Dictionary of Western Sculptors in Bronze, James Mackay, 1977, p. 155 [biography]
Animals in Bronze, Christopher Payne, 2002, p. 406 [biography]

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