Gustave Doré French, 1832 - 1883 A large and rare gilt bronze table mirror Paris, circa 1885, most probably cast by M. Bernoux

original bevel glass mirror, signed G^VE DORE

The model exhibited at the Cercle de L'Union Artistique, Paris, 1885

A. Edwards, 'Gustave Doré. Personal recollections of the artist and his works', in The Art Journal, 1883, p. 390 (engraving of Le Temps).
P. Kaenel ed., Exhibition catalogue, Gustave Doré: Master of Imagination, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, 2014.
S. Lami, Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de l'Ecole française au XIXe Siècle, Paris, 1916, Vol. II, pp. 204-206.
N. Lehni, Exhibition catalogue, Gustave Doré, 1832-1883, Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg, 1983, p. 163, cat. no. 161 (the other example of this mirror).
E. Zafran ed., Exhibition catalogue, Fantasy and Faith - The Art of Gustave Doré, Dahesh Museum of Art, New York, 2007, p. 137, cat. 196 (Le Temps).

Overall in fair condition with the usual tarnishing and dirt to gilt bronze mounts consistent with age and atmospheric conditions through the years. The drapery more tarnished than the six cupids.
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One of only three known table mirrors of this model produced by Gustave Doré, this exquisite piece represents the self-taught skill of the famed Doré. Despite its studied, sculpturally complex composition, it is surprisingly one of only three decorative objects ever produced by Gustave Doré.

Gustave Doré (1832-1883) is broadly famous for his book illustrations, such as Dante's Inferno (1861), Don Quixote (1862) and The Bible (1866). He began his artistic career as a precocious fifteen year old caricaturist and quickly progressed into literary illustrations. His illustrations influenced the way readers, in France and abroad, have envisioned some of the most important literary characters. His artistic output, far from straightforward illustrations, is noted for its appeal to the grotesque and the bizarre. His series of 180 engravings of London produced between 1869 and 1871 and published in 1872 under the title London: A Pilgrimage were more sober studies of the poorer quarters of the city and captured the attention of Vincent van Gogh. His prolific career has been cited as a source of inspiration for Impressionists and contemporary artists, while an exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay in 2014 even traced his work as one of the main antecedents of modern comic book art.

Doré’s work, however, was not solely restricted to his literary output. He stretched his oeuvre to include paintings of New Testament scenes, drawings, watercolors and sculpture. Sculpture was one of his last artistic forays, but he quickly proved skilled in the medium and even exhibited an allegorical plaster group entitled Parque et l'Amour (Fate and Love) at the Salon in 1877. In total, some thirty or so works were to follow, many of them exhibited at the Salon, and those produced in bronze for the most part cast by the Thiébaut foundry.

This mirror comes out of Doré’s investigations and studies of sculptural forms.  Doré’s only other decorative arts creations include a monumental vase titled Le Poème de la Vigne first shown in plaster at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle and a large gilt-bronze table clock tilted Le Temps. The vase was over ten feet tall and was adorned with vines, putti, fauns and bacchantes. It was later cast in bronze by Thiébaut Frères and exhibited at the 1882 Salon, the 1893 Columbian International Exhibition in Chicago and the 1894 California Midwinter Exposition in San Francisco. At that final exhibition, it was purchased by the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, where it remains. The clock, on the other hand, was a special present for Doré’s lover, the actress Justine Pilloy, known as Alice Ozi (d. 1893). Like the mirror and the vase, the clock features numerous putti who rest below the figure of Chronos. Despite it being a gift, the clock was exhibited at the Cercle de l'Union artistique in 1879, it is now in the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.

The mirror was Doré’s third and last decorative arts object. There are three known examples of this model. The first version was supposedly commissioned by the Tsarina Maria Fyodorovna (1847-1928) and was offered Christie’s London, September 24, 2009, lot 50.  The second example was exhibited at the Cercle de l'Union artistique later in 1883. It was owned by Doré's niece, Madame Michel-Doré, and passed through her family before being left to the Musée de Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse, where it remains to this day.