Specialized auction : Arts of the 20th Century

AGATHON LÉONARD (1841–1923) (LÉONARD AGATHON VAN WEYDEVELDT, KNOWN AS)

Agathon LÉONARD (1841–1923) (known as Léonard Agathon Van Weydeveldt)
Dancer with a tambourine, large model, c. 1900

bronze sculpture with a gilded patina. Signed and bearing the foundry mark ‘Susse Frères Editeurs Paris’.

Note: In 1898, the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres commissioned Agathon Léonard to create a table centrepiece in biscuit porcelain, which it would present at the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris. A resounding success, this composition depicted a ‘Jeu de l’écharpe’ and consisted of fifteen statuettes representing dancers in pleated dresses. These evoked the choreography of the famous dancer Loïe Fuller. The statuettes were subsequently marketed in two sizes by Sèvres and, from 1901 onwards, were cast in bronze by the Parisian foundry Susse Frères.

Bibliography:
- Pierre KJELLBERG, “Les bronzes du XIXe siècle – Dictionnaire des sculpteurs”, Les Éditions de l’Amateur, 2001, variant p. 432
- Ingelore BÖSTGE, Emmanuelle HÉRAN, Agathon Léonard: The Art Nouveau Gesture, Somogy, 2003, page 68 No. 49
H: 57 cm

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