catalog text
"WANDERER" AFTER MODEL BY PIERRE EUGÉNE EMILE HÉBERT (FRENCH, 1828-1893)
Black and brown patinated bronze; signed EMILE HEBERT and cold-stamped TIFFANY & CO
Item # 102MNR25A
This mysterious traveler is a fine and rare model by Hébert that unpacks slowly as you view it from various angles. A work that was intended for the center of the room, it presents beautifully from any angle with exquisite detail to every aspect of the surface. Finished in a complex overall black surface patina, it has delightful warm undertones of reddish-oxide, burnt bronze tones and warmer bronze highlights. The casting quality is superb and the surface finishing work is exceptional with light texturing, chasing and cross-hatching and filing that has resulted in a very powerful presentation. The figure sits on high, larger than life, dominating the earth along with the towers and towns of men. His features are complex and it is difficult to separate his weariness from his casual disdain; but his tired frame and worn garment record his time spent wandering from place to place.
The parallels between Hébert's Mephistopheles (1855) and the present model are self-evident and suggest a spectrum. In his 1855 depiction of the Faustian deal-maker, the young Mephistopheles is dapper and stylish, seated on a beautifully rendered gothic throne with an arrogance that is palpable. The present figure is aged and his distinctive shoes have worn out nearly completely, one lost entirely while the other cannot hold the toes in place any longer; the skin-tight pants have loosened, wrinkled and worn; his fine mustache and carefully groomed facial hair have given way to the wispy chaotic beard of a vagabond. But beneath the dirt and unkempt appearance, we see all of the features of Mephistopheles, now aged from his endless service.
The work was titled Wanderer in Berman's volume and the name seems to have carried, though Hébert's intended title for it is presently unknown. A very rare model to find on the open market, it was edited by Tiffany & Co and retailed under their brand, their cold-stamped mark in the base before the towns. It is a rich and most complex subject.
Pierre-Eugéne-Emile Hebert was born in Paris in 1828 and studied under his father, a well regarded sculptor Pierre Hebert, and under Jean-Jacques Feuchére. At the age of 18 he debuted at Salon, where he continued to exhibit almost every year continuously until his death in 1893, also completing some commissioned public works. He is particularly known for “Comedy and Drama”, stone groups at the Théatre du Vaudeville and his group “The Oracle” (now at the museum in Vienna). His works are held in museums and institutions throughout the United States and Great Britain.
In its summary of Hébert, the National Gallery of Art notes that “Hébert often adjusted his style to historical subject: severe neo-Greek handling in his Thetis, Oracle, and Oedipus and the Sphinx; and stylized and rigid neo-Egyptian handling in his busts of Rameses and Isis. Some of his most intriguing work is in this historicizing mode, which provides especially useful insights into nineteenth-century French orientalism.”
Artist Listings & Bibliography:
- "Bronzes: Sculptors and Founders 1800-1930", Vol IV, Berman, 1980, p. 1042, fig. 4090 [present figure depicted at 25" in overall height with a yellow-gold patina circa 1870]
Measurements: 24 3/4" H x 12 3/4" D x 8 1/2" W (base)
Condition Report:
Scratch to figure's right shoulder (we can have this toned upon request). Patina wear to the hair at the top of his head, revealing a warm bronze undertone. Minor handling wear and surface variation, overall the surface remaining in exquisite original condition, carefully conserved and an incredibly fine presentation.