John Sandon
Consultant
Lot 47
The Three Graces: An important Baccarat Glass and Gilded Bronze centrepiece by Hippolyte Moreau, circa 1909-10
5 April 2017, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£150,000 - £200,000
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The Three Graces: An important Baccarat Glass and Gilded Bronze centrepiece by Hippolyte Moreau, circa 1909-10
Created for the Exposition Internationale de L'Est de la France, the clear crystal glass vase deeply cut with vertical flutes and mounted with gilded bronze handles, supported above their shoulders by three dancing maidens also in gilded bronze, the maidens partially covered by diaphanous drapery, the two-level base also in crystal glass and with further mounts and feet of gilded bronze, 74cm high, the metal mount at the base of the vase stamped with the Baccarat factory mark
Footnotes
The cristalleries de Baccarat seized every opportunity to show their glass internationally, but when a major exposition was planned on their own doorstep, Baccarat was determined to make the greatest display of crystal Nancy had ever seen. The town of Baccarat is in Lorraine, a region of eastern France with a strong sense of identity. The Exposition Internationale de l'Est de la France was held in Nancy from May to October 1909. The aim was to demonstrate that Alsace-Lorraine had fully recovered from the 1870 war and was a centre for the Arts as well as industry. The local École de Nancy had its own pavilion where glass-makers Gallé and Daum showed striking Art Nouveau glass. By way of a contrast, in the main pavilion Baccarat showed a very different kind of glassware. All around Baccarat's massive stand, traditional cut and polished crystal sparkled beneath incredible chandeliers. Standing proudly in the middle of the Baccarat display was a new centrepiece created especially for the 1909 Exposition. This was The Three Graces.
Baccarat found the perfect sculptor to create their Nancy centrepiece, for Hippolyte François Moreau (1832-1927) had grown up in Eastern France. The son of an eminent sculptor Jean-Baptiste Moreau, Hippolyte studied in Paris and was just twenty-five when he first exhibited at the Salon in 1859. He became famous for his spirited bronzes, especially of young ladies. Moreau's maidens had charm, beauty and above all a great sense of movement. The subject of The Three Graces has been popular in French sculpture and Hippolyte Moreau may have been influenced by well-known 18th-century versions by Étienne Maurice Falconet and by François Vion. Breaking with tradition, however, Moreau gave movement to his Three Graces. These are Art Nouveau dancing maidens and as such they belong in the Folies Bergère rather than at Versailles.
The official review of the exhibition praised 'Une admirable coupe montée sur un trépied de bronze et portant une guirlande de personnages... L'incomparable limpidité du cristal, le fini et la perfection de la taille qui demandent une main-d'oeuvre particulièrement habile et longuement excercée'.
The following year in 1910 an exhibition of Glass and Crystal was held at the Musée Galliera. This was on a much smaller scale than the Exposition at Nancy but the same highlights were shown by Baccarat once more. The Three Graces was proudly exhibited and was reproduced in an accompanying feature by the critic Jules Henrivaux published in Art & Industrie.
An identical Three Graces vase was retained by the Baccarat factory for its own collection and is in the musée Baccarat at the manufactory. This was shown in the exhibition Baccarat, La Légende du Cristal at the Petit Palais in Paris in 2014/2015 and is featured in the accompanying catalogue, p.86.
