FRANÇOIS RUPERT CARABIN | FIGURAL CANDLESTICK

Galerie du Luxembourg, Paris

Acquired from the above by the present owners

L’Art Décoratif aux salons des Beaux Arts 1904, Paris, 1904, pl. 78

L'œuvre de Rubert Carabin, exh. cat., Galerie du Luxembourg, Paris, 1974, p. 190, n. 101

L'œuvre de Rubert Carabin, Galerie du Luxembourg, Paris, May-October 1974

During the Art Nouveau era, there was a renaissance of interest in the female form. Often highly stylized, women permeated the decorative arts of the period. While François Rupert Carabin also was fascinated with sculpting women, in contrast to his contemporaries, he was interested in realistic creations of the feminine form. Carabin worked from his collection of photographs, as well as live models that he often recruited from the brothels of Montmartre. Carabin’s daughter recalled that when sculpting, her father would work for hours as he “he massaged the forms, almost in love.” Carabin’s attention to detail lead to an unparalleled level of naturalism in his pieces and he realistically depicted emotions like anger, jealously and capriciousness. Often highly erotic, Carabin’s female figures play a submissive role in his pieces and acted as caryatids. This present lot depicts a water naiad-like figure poised and acquiescently holding up a single lily, which acts as the candlestick holder. The figure’s flowing locks appear wet, and the body is carefully molded with dimples and indentations reminiscent of the nudes of Rodin. On the lily pad base, a single carefully cast water strider insect perches. When lit by candlelight, the patina on the bronze glows softly and the shadows play across the body of the figure, bringing Carabin’s piece to life.