Name: AFTER ÉTIENNE-MAURICE FALCONET (1716 - 1791)
Brand: La baigneuse (The bather)
Price: 13000.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

AFTER ÉTIENNE-MAURICE FALCONET (1716 - 1791)
La baigneuse (The bather)
inscribed to the base 'FALCONET VENUS' and 'MADE FROM POLETTI e GHIO/ CARRARA'
marble
32³⁄₄ in. (83 cm.) high; 10¹⁄₄ in. (26 cm.) diameter, the base
Concieved circa 1757.
This marble circa 1900.

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.
-

Conditions of Sale
FAQs
This lot is offered by Christie Manson & Woods Ltd

Brought to you by

Lot Essay

The prototype of the The Batheror Baigneuse, was executed by Etienne-Maurice Falconet circa 1750 and was first exhibited in the Salon of 1757 described as 'no. 131 - Nymphe qui descend du bain'. Shortly after it entered the collection of Mme Du Barry at Louveciennes until seized during the French revolution. It was subsequently documented in 1824 in the Grand Trianon at Versailles, and finally moved to Louvre circa1855 where it remains today (inv. M.R. 1846).
Falconet almost certainly adapted his pose from a painting of the same subject by François Lemoyne of 1724, which was itself very often copied in the first half of the 18th century. The Bather's popularity was such that as late as 1775 Pajou executed a bust of Madame du Barry with her hair arranged 'in the manner of Falconet's Bather' (G. Levitine, The Sculpture of Falconet, New York, 1972., pp. 31 - 33). Its success led to reproductions in all media throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, as seen with the present example.