Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux Pourquoi Naître Esclave (Why Born Enslaved)

Property from a New York Private Collection
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
1827 - 1875
Pourquoi Naître Esclave (Why Born Enslaved)

inscribed with POURQUOINAITREESCLAVE on the base

patinated plaster
height 23 3/4 in,; 60.3cm.

Condition Report:
Standard surface abrasions, some chipping (including in her hair), losses and old, stable restorations throughout (including in areas of her hair and around base and the edges of her drapery. More recent loss (chip of paint) on back right corner of base. Remains of lacquer on surface. A thin board has been attached to the underside for consolidation of old restorations.

Catalogue Note:
Since Pourquoi Naître Esclave was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1869, it has remained one of the most important and popular works of Carpeaux’s oeuvre, with fine examples acquired by various institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Due to the popularity of this model, a number of editions in various media were created both by Carpeaux’s atelier and other workshops, such as Maison Susse. The present plaster is believed to be a working model used to produce marble editions, in part due to the three unusual, integrally cast faceted finials, which may have been used for pointing or in some part of the production of the finished sculpture.

RELATED LITERATURE
J. Draper and E. Papet, The Passions of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014, p. 162, cat. no. 93.

Provenance:
Collection of John Gaines, Christies New York.