Ref.10914
Clock with Chinese zodiac signs

This clock, inspired by the Far East, was made at the end of the 19th century. The hours on the dial are made of brass or tin and represent the 12 animals of the Chinese astrological signs : Rat, Buffalo, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Serpent, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The mechanism and dial are made in France. The body of the clock, made of carved wood, is made in China. The decoration depicts three entwined dragons.

Ref.14982
Mathurin Moreau for the Val d’Osne foundry, The Flower Fairy, late 19th century

This cast-iron sculpture was created by Mathurin Moreau for the Val d'Osne foundry, with which he collaborated, at the end of the 19th century. It depicts a winged young girl being led by a cherub. The composition of the sculpture is complex: the woman is seated in the form of an Amazon; her naked body forms a circular arc, her arm raised above her intertwining with long garlands of flowers. These link her to the cherub, who seems to be dragging the fairy through them, setting the whole composition in motion. The sculptor paid great attention to detail: the simple headband on the woman's head, the modest drape over her thigh and falling over the base, and the cherub's hair pulled back by the wind give the composition its liveliness. The sculpture's imposing pedestal is in harmony with it. It is divided into several compartments, the inside of which is decorated with floral motifs and various symbolic objects: two recorders forming an aulos (ancient wind instrument) accompanied by small birds, embodying harmonious music; a panpipes associated with grapes evoking the world of Dionysus; a sheaf of wheat and tools symbolising agriculture; a theatrical mask and a fool's hat with a tambourine and a curtain representing the performing arts. The sculpture of the Flower Fairy is shown in the catalogue of the Val d'Osne foundry (on plate 583), as is its pedestal, independently (on plate 570 bis). The combination of the two works was therefore the result of a desire on the part of the patron, who imposed his own taste on the commission. The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston owns a copy of the Flower Fairy identical to our own. Mathurin Moreau also created another Flower Fairy, a statuette. This one is a young woman in a dancing posture, whose nudity is emphasised rather than concealed by a wet drape around her body. This very delicate figurine echoes the larger but no less elegant bronze sculpture.