Some of you already know how much I love Nouveau era busts, and here's another gorgeous pair I just added to my collection. Cleopatre and Salambo, created in 12" patinated spelter by Franz Iffland sometime between 1880 and 1910. With their beautifully stoic faces and highly detailed, swirling hair, both now stare down from my shelf at me with the wisdom of the ages. Other things to look for below are the perfectly blended masks and weaponry attached to the bases, which barely cover their bare breasts. I'm also sure most of you are familiar with the fabulous Queen of Egypt, but have you heard of priestess Salambo, daughter of Hamilcar, and chief moon goddess during the siege of Carthage in 240-237 BCE? She was in fact, a fictional character created in the late 19th century by Gustave Flaubert (author of Madame Bovery), and apparently became so wildly popular that her story spawned a variety of operas and films. I particularly love Henri Adrien Tanoux's 1921 painting of her, (see end of post.)
4 comments:
Salambo has a real haughty look and Cleopatre has a real distant look. That is some fine sculpting. I always love the flowing hair into flow cloth bit you see a lot of statues. This was, I'd assume, probably a convivence in sculpting but I'm always fascinated by it.
Nice finds, and good condition! A little wear and tear gives them a lived in look.
Hello all, just back from falling to a long patinated spelter rabbit hole. I feel like I've already learned a lot today! Quite a lovely pair of busts, Karswell. I love their windblown faces. And Cleo's eye-gouged tragedy mask looks like something out of a Lamberto Bava movie. From the back these ladies seem uncomfortably munched though, their bods like apple cores.
These two are the ultimate book ends, provided the books in question are The works of Sappho, Lady Chatterley's Lover, the Kinsey report, etc.
Cleopatre has a somewhat stern look on her face, as if to say-
"Did you go out on a date with my cousin Salambo? Did you-"
Salambo's reply "A lady never tells"
Cleopatre's counter reply "That's why I'm asking you. I would like to know before you sell the story to the tabloids."
Someone once said "Whenever you see two women kiss each other on the cheek, it reminds me of two boxers who shake hands before the fight."
Great comments, thanks for those. AEET and THOIA both have the best commenters... I actually feel sorry for all of the other blogs out there :)
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