Aristide Maillol (French, 1861 - 1944) Standing Woman Arrang...

Estimate

£80,000 - £120,000

Aristide Maillol (French, 1861 - 1944)
Standing Woman Arranging her Hair, Rosita, c. 1898

Bronze

Provenance:
Purchased by Chaim Gross (1902 - 1991, Ukranian-American) in the late 1920s in Paris.

Dimensions:
11 in. (27 cm) (H)

Following Maillol, this model was one of his first figures: "C'est une des premières que j'ai faites." (Frère 1956, p. 74). The model was a Spanish servant - perhaps named Rosita.

It was the dealer Ambroise Vollard who first suggested to Maillol that bronze casts could be made from his woodcarvings and his terracotta or plaster figures. On September 10th, 1902, Maillol sold a group of sculptures to Ambroise Vollard, including this model, listed as follows:

Petite statup femme dehout les mains au cheveux derriere la tete

According to their 1902 agreement Vollard bought all the rights of reproduction of this sculpture - "en toute propriété et avec le droit d'édition" and therefore, the casts that Vollard produced of the 'Baigneuse se coiffant', are from the only legal edition. In signing this contract with Vollard, Maillol relinquished his rights to reproduce this work himself.

The contract of 1902 gave no limit to the number of bronzes which could be cast - this was usual for this beriod. The number of casts vollard edited is unknown. There exist a so versions in terracotta.

In 1907 Ambroise Vollard began using the Florentin Godard foundry to cast these Maillol models and from 1909 to 1939 he used them exclusivelv. as the papers in the Vollard estate prove. Florentin Godard was a sand cast foundry, they rarely marked their casts with their name and never numbered them.

This 'Baigneuse se coiffant', acquired from an American Private Collection, is a good and typical bronze of the Vollard edition, cast by Florentin Godard, and carefully chiseled and patinated

A certificate of authenticity is available with this lot upon request.