Antique French Silver-Plated Bronze Bust of a Satyr or Faun by Alix Marquet - 1914
Alix Marquet (1875-1939) - Le Faune - 1914
Silver-plated bronze Faun or Satyr sculpture, mounted on a dark grey marble base.
Signed ‘Alix Marquet’ ; Inscribed ‘Medaille D’Honneur’.
H: 39cm x 23cm x 22.5cm.
Striking sculpture of a menacing Faun or Satyr, in an unusual silver-plated bronze patina. Finely sculpted details of bacchanalian vine leaves & grapes entangle around the horns and hair.
Alix Marquet was a French sculptor and painter. Active in Paris, he exhibited numerous works at the Salon des artistes français, several of which received awards. He was Vice-President of the Société des artistes français and the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts known today as the Beaux-Arts de Paris.
In 1914, Marquet exhibited his group Vignes du Seigneur (Vines of the Lord) at the Salon, which depicts an inebriated Bacchus being supported by a faun, which was acquired by the State of France. Bacchus was the Roman god of agriculture, wine, and festivity, equivalent to the Greek god Dionysus. Often associated with hedonism and excess, Marquet chose to depict Bacchus intoxicated and unable to stand up, with his companion faun supporting him from behind. Fauns were half-human and half-goat mythological creatures that appear in both Greek and Roman mythology. Though originally fauns and satyrs were very different creatures, fauns later became conflated with satyrs, the companions Dionysus that were characterised by their ribaldry and were known as lovers of wine, music, dancing, and women.
Marquet produced the faun of the 1914 Salon group without Bacchus, in the form of a bust, in both marble and bronze. The present silver-plated bronze bust is an example of the bust model. The horned faun is depicted wearing fruiting vines in his hair, with a strained grin and expression on his face, as if he was still attempting to help up his inebriated friend. A bunch of grapes falls on his shoulder. The bust is inscribed with the ‘Medaille D’Honneur’ or ‘Medal of Honour’ and signed ‘Alix Marquet’.
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