Lot 40: - Adèle d'Affry , Swiss 1836 - 1879 Chef Abyssin (Abyssinian chief) terracotta

signed: Marcello terracotta

measurements note 66.7cm., 26¼in.

Adèle d'Affry was the daughter of the Swiss Count, Louis d'Affry, and the husband of Carlo Colonna, Duke of Castiglione, whom she met in Italy having moved to Rome in 1854. When her husband tragically died, only eight months after their marriage in 1856, Adèle launched herself into a career as a sculptor, taking on the pseudonym 'Marcello'. Le Chef Abyssin marks the height of her achievement as an artist: bronze and white marble versions were exhibited at the 1870 Salon and a model was purchased by the prominent foundry owner Marnyhac. In 1873 the model won a medal at the Universal Exhibition held in Vienna. Strangely, the inspiration for the regal bust comes from a Roman brigand. His Arab features pleased the artist so much that she immortalised him in numerous sketches, paintings and sculptures. Marcello's other major orientalist bust and occasional pendant to the Chef Abyssin, Medje, was also a portrait of a European: Madame Isabelle Rodocanachi, a childhood friend.

A marble version of Le Chef Abyssin is kept in the Musée d'Orsay, a plaster model is in the Kunstmuseum in Bern and numerous sketches and paintings in preparation for the bust are preserved at the Fondation Marcello in Fribourg, Switzerland.

RELATED LITERATURE
Bessis, pp. 152-157, no. 39ff