Lot 99: Pierre Dumont (1660-1737)

Pierre Dumont (1660-1737)
French, circa 1700
a terracotta figure of st. ambrose
signed on the back with the interlacing monogram PDM, the bishop saint looking down, a beehive at his feet
38 cm., 15 in.
This terracotta figure appears to be the first signed work by this artist so far recorded. Born in Valenciennes in 1660, Pierre Dumont is listed as working in Paris, Rennes, Compiegne and in 1719 in Nancy. A member of the Academy of Saint Luc he was created sculptor to the king's chapel and sculptor to the Duke of Lorraine. His descendants numbered a long line of sculptors terminating with Augustin Dumont who died in 1884.
St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan in the fourth century, was one of the four Fathers of the church. His beehive refers to the swarm of bees which were said to have landed on his mouth when he lay in his cradle.
Related Literature:
Stanislas Lami, Dictionnaire de Sculptures de l'Ecole Francaise-Sous le Regne de Louis XIV, Paris, 1910, Vol.II, p.173-174
G. Vattier, Une famille d'artistes. Les Dumont 1660-1884.