- 19
Paul Manship
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
- Paul Manship
- "Oriental Dancer" Vase
- signed and dated PAUL MANSHIP/© 1913 and impressed GORHAM CO FOUNDERS/QST
- burnished bronze
from an edition of 8
Provenance
Acquired from the artist by Michael Huberman
Gift to Solomon Huber, Seattle, WA, 1927
Thence by descent to Virginia Huber
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Gift to Solomon Huber, Seattle, WA, 1927
Thence by descent to Virginia Huber
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Literature
Paul Manship: Changing Taste in America, exh. cat., Minnesota Museum of Art Landmark Center, St. Paul, MN, 1985, p. 65 (for the model in the collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)
John Manship, Paul Manship, New York, 1989, p. 50 (for the model)
Catalogue Note
Known for large scale public commissions that include Rockefeller Center and the Bronx Zoo, Paul Manship also produced smaller works as in the present lot. According to the catalogue for the 1985 exhibition of his work at the Minnesota Museum of Art, Manship originally created this piece for his wife, and it is one of the few small vases he made.
The application of griffin-head handles and relief of a dancing Indian female figure to an Archaic form vase reflects Manship's recent travels in Italy and Greece as well as his burgeoning interest in South Asian art. It is the first instance of his adoption of Eastern themes and is notably the precursor to his more elaborate three-dimensional sculpture of 1915, titled "Salome." This combination of Orientalism and Archaism came to define some of his later work and was highly influential to his American contemporaries. In contrast to some of the period's more essentialist appropriations of Eastern art, these two works demonstrate Manship's authentic interest in the subject. The academicism that he brought to his use of both Eastern motifs and classical forms is consistently remarked upon in the wealth of literature dedicated to his oeuvre.
Edwin Murtha records that this piece is one of an edition of eight, of which five examples are known. The Smith College Museum and Corcoran Gallery of Art both have one in their permanent collections. The vases were produced with different patinas and the present lot is an example in burnished bronze.
The application of griffin-head handles and relief of a dancing Indian female figure to an Archaic form vase reflects Manship's recent travels in Italy and Greece as well as his burgeoning interest in South Asian art. It is the first instance of his adoption of Eastern themes and is notably the precursor to his more elaborate three-dimensional sculpture of 1915, titled "Salome." This combination of Orientalism and Archaism came to define some of his later work and was highly influential to his American contemporaries. In contrast to some of the period's more essentialist appropriations of Eastern art, these two works demonstrate Manship's authentic interest in the subject. The academicism that he brought to his use of both Eastern motifs and classical forms is consistently remarked upon in the wealth of literature dedicated to his oeuvre.
Edwin Murtha records that this piece is one of an edition of eight, of which five examples are known. The Smith College Museum and Corcoran Gallery of Art both have one in their permanent collections. The vases were produced with different patinas and the present lot is an example in burnished bronze.