Early 20th Century E. Popineau Signed Large, Original, French Art Deco Bronze Female Cymbal Dancer - Francois Emile Popineau

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A large and elegant original French Art Deco bronze sculpture of a nude female figure poised in a graceful, balletic … Read more A large and elegant original French Art Deco bronze sculpture of a nude female figure poised in a graceful, balletic step. Signed E. Popineau on the bronze and bearing the original La Stele foundry seal.
She balances lightly on one foot atop a domed base, her other leg drawn back and hand reaching toward her ankle, creating an elegant S‑curve through the torso. The surface is finished in a very dark verde‑green to near‑black lustrous patina that emphasizes the smooth, stylized modeling of the body and showing subtle natural variegation and mottling throughout the surface.
The figure is mounted on a sleek, stepped black granite base, neatly edged with a brass trim that accentuates the sculpture’s geometric Art Deco lines. There is a tiny old repair to one top corner of the base, stable and unobtrusive in normal viewing. The statue has a strong architectural presence and is noticeably much larger in scale than most Deco bronzes, giving it real impact in a room or gallery setting.
1887-1951
François‑Émile Popineau (often signed E. Popineau) was a French sculptor active in the first half of the 20th century, best known for elegant figurative works in stone and bronze. He was born in 1887 in Saint‑Amand‑Montrond (Cher) and died in Paris in 1951. He trained in Paris after showing early talent for carving and modeling as a teenager.
Popineau worked in a broadly classical but modernized style, producing nudes, dancers, and allegorical female figures that sit very comfortably alongside Art Deco aesthetics. He received important recognition between the wars: he won medals for sculpture and metalwork at the 1925 Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes. He later received the Puvis‑de‑Chavannes prize for his statue La Baigneuse and was named a chevalier of the Légion d’honneur. Popineau also created architectural sculpture and war memorials and taught at several French art schools, including the École des beaux‑arts in Bourges and later in Le Havre.
Base footprint :8 5/8" square
The variation in color between the photos listed is due to lighting and the camera's flash See less