Lot 44: Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Debay (French, 1802-1862)

Une jeune esclave
signed 'Jean DeBay.'(on the front of the base) and inscribed and dated 'fondue par C. Quesnel. 1844' (on the back of the base)
bronze with dark green patina and gilt bronze
height: 61 in. (155 cm.)
Cast in 1844

Paris, Salon, 1836, no. 1899 (the marble version, as Une jeune esclave).
Paris, Salon, 1837, no. 1901 (the original bronze cast, as Une jeune esclave).

S. Lami, Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de l'Ecole Française, Paris, 1916, p. 127-8.

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Debay, the son of the sculptor Jean Debay, studied under his father as well as under Baron Bosio until he entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1820. His talents were recognized widely and as a result he began receiving numerous awards and medals amassing a rather large number of them as early as 1823. Debay was also a regular exhibitor at the Salon and won his first class medal in 1836 as well as a second class medal at the Exposition Universelle in 1855. He was appointed a medal of Légion d'honneur on 25 May 1851. Today, Debay's sculptures grace the churches of Saint-Sulpice, la Madeleine and Saint-Eustache, as well as the gardens of the Louvre (fig. 1); many of his other works are currently housed at Musée de Versailles.

The present cast of Une jeune esclave was executed in 1844 at the small foundry of Quesnel, which was active between 1811 and 1847. The foundry, which was initially established at 22 rue des Amandiers-Popincourt, was moved to 112 rue de Richelieu in 1844 and renamed Quesnel'et Cie.

(fig. 1) Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Debay, Le Génie de la Chasse, 1836-8, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Barcode: 2366922