'THAIS', A RARE ART DECO FIGURE, CIRCA 1925

Details

DEMETRE CHIPARUS 1886-1947
'THAIS', A RARE ART DECO FIGURE, CIRCA 1925
patinated, gilt, silver and cold-painted bronze, ivory, onyx base
22 ½ in. (57.2 cm.) high; 25 ½ in. (64.8 cm.) long
engraved D. H. Chiparus

Provenance

Private Collection, France

Literature

Other examples illustrated:
V. Arwas, Art Deco Sculpture, London, 1992, pp. 42-3;
A. Shayo, Chiparus, Master of Art Deco, New York, 1993, p. 120, fig. 52;
B. Catley, Art Deco and Other Figures, Woodbridge, 2003, p. 95.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country. Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Brought to you by

Jeremy Morrison

jmorrison@christies.com +44 (0)20 7752 3274

Lot Essay

This figure of Thais combines the Symbolist fascinations with Orientalism and Egyptian mysticism, in a characteristic 1920s aesthetic and at the same time still resonates today as a masterpiece. In 1890 Anatole France created his eponymous novel Thais, who in 1894 became the subject of an opera by Jules Massenet. Staged in Alexandria in the fourth century, the book narrates the tale of a monk attempting to convert the courtesan Thais. The religious eroticism of the opera thrilled the Parisian public of the time and clearly inspire Chiparus to portray the subject in this bronze and ivory sculpture. This is a rare pieces of which very few examples are known to exist.

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