"The Flute Player" | Paul Philippe

PAUL PHILIPPE
Polish/French, 1870-1930

"The Flute Player"

Polychromed gilt bronze | Signed in cast "P. Philippe" | incised to base "2 MC / France"

Item # 212JPU15W  An exquisitely cast example of Paul Philippe's The Flute Player, it was cast circa 1920 and features a wonderful allover gilt and pigment polychromed patina that is nuanced and complex, the painterly patination highlighting the figure's realism and her exactness of form. She is entirely lost in her music as the young woman dances along a rocky path to her own tune. The flute in her hands is a knobby woodwind instrument and her hair is adorned in a crown of leaves and berries.

The base is signed P. Philippe, the signature captured directly from the original mold with little evidence of cold-tooling after casting. A very fine example. PAUL PHILIPPE
Born in Thorn in Poland in 1870, Paul Philippe studied under Antonin Larroux at the École des Beaux-Arts after moving to Paris, France around 1900. He exhibited extensively at all of the major French salons and developed his own voice in sculpture by focusing his ouevre around the movement of the female body, often depicting exotic models in highly theatrical poses with a loose adherence to realism in his idealized visions. He walked a fine line between Art Nouveau and Art Deco while his figures do tend towards the latter. He executed figures in bronze and chryselephantine and worked with some of the best foundries in France and Germany. Many examples of his work are held in the Art Deco Museum in Moscow, Russia.
Measurements: 20 1/2" H x 6 1/8" D x 9 1/8" W [total including marble]; 19 3/4" H x 4 1/4" D x 8 1/8" W [bronze] Condition Report:
Some light patina wear to the fingertips of the outstretched hand; otherwise excellent condition. Cleaned and sealed in conservator's wax.