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MARCEL DEBUT

French, 1865-1933

"Porteur d'eau arabe" (The Tunisian Water Carrier)

Medium-brown and reddish patinated bronze, burnished bronze pots, cast metal pot-holders | Signed in base "Debut" | Inscribed "Ch. Gautier Bronzier" edge of base | cast circa first quarter of the 20th century

Item # 203XJP21A

A finely cast example of the Tunisian Water Carrier, there has been some confusion as to whether this sculpture was executed by Jean Didier Debut or his son Marcel Debut. Pierre Kjellberg writes on this point, noting that the confusion stems from the fact that Marcel's father executed a model of the same title and of the same size. Jean Didier's model features a young man carrying a jug of water in each hand, while the present example by Marcel is much more rare and depicts a man carrying a large pot on a long stick over his shoulder while smaller jugs are tied around his belt; in his hand he holds a pair of pot-holders executed in white-metal.

The quality of casting in the present example is above reproach and the entire subject is finished in a complex patina of a brick-red in the figure, medium brown in his garment and burnished natural bronze in the pots. The sculpture was cast by the house of Charles Gautier and is inscribed "Ch. Gautier Bronzier" along the lower edge.

ARTIST
Born to sculptor Jean Didier Debut in Paris on March 27th of 1865, Marcel Debut studied first with his father and then at the École des Beaux Arts under Henri Chapu. He began to exhibit at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1883, including such works as Sommelier du XVe siècle (1889), Petit Pêcheur au harpon (1893), Actéon (1897), Le Génie des arts (1898), Une gueuse (1905), Watteau (1890), a vase with the theme of Persée et Andromède (1896), Labourage (1898) and L'Hiver (1913). He also executed numerous vases and bas-reliefs, designed some models for Sèvres to manufacture as statuettes and a bronze called Le Fauconnier which was offered at 85 cm in total height. In 1895 he received an honourable mention for his submission. Beyond his sculptures, he also dedicated himself to painting having studied under both Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre at the Academy; these views are often scenes of Paris. He died in 1933.

Artist Listings & Bibliography:

Bronzes: Sculptors & Founders, 1800-1930, vol. IV, Berman, Abage, 1980, p. 949, ill. 3637
E. Benezit Dictionary of Sculptors, vol. IV, Gründ, 2006, p. 541
Bronzes of the 19th Century: A Dictionary of Sculptors, Kjellberg, Schiffer, 1994, p. 266-267
The Dictionary of Western Sculptors in Bronze, Mackay, Baron, 1977, p. 95
Art Bronzes, Forrest, Schiffer, 1988, p. 473 [biography]

Measurements: 23 3/4" H x 12" D [at deepest points; 9" deep at base] x 10 1/2" W [at widest points; 7 1/2" wide at base]

Condition Report:
Excellent original condition. Minor handling wear. No observed flaws.

About silla | antiques & art
Established in 2009, our 9000 square foot brick-and-mortar gallery is home to a carefully curated and catalogued inventory of furniture, decorative arts, paintings, sculpture and estate jewelry. Our company has long specialized in sculpture circa 1860 through 1930 and as such the gallery always has a very large collection of exceptional European and American sculpture available on display.

The gallery is located at 117 W Burd Street in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania and is open by appointment only. We welcome your visit and would love to meet with you. For clients located outside of the area, we are always available to discuss items by video conferencing or by phone.

SHIPPING

We take shipping very seriously and maintain a fully equipped in-house packing facility to professionally package these important and delicate pieces. All packaging is handled by our staff and will generally consist of:

Wrapping the item in several inches of heavy-duty bubble wrap with careful attention shown to pressure points, crafting the placement of the bubble wrap in a manner that allows delicate parts of the item to remain out of harm's way.
The item is then placed into a tight-fitting carton with a void fill of either peanuts, Styrofoam, bubble wrap or a combination of the three to ensure it cannot move within the carton
That carton is then double-boxed by placing it into an outer carton 2-3" larger on all sides with a dense void fill in the gap [note, paintings are generally not double-boxed but instead have a different packing methodology to properly protect the frame from pressure]

All shipments are guaranteed to arrive safely. We fully insure all shipments and in the event of damage we will handle all of the details around the claims process. You are only required to send along photos, to hold onto the damaged item and all packing materials until the claims process is resolved and we also reserve the right to require the damaged item to be shipped back to us at our expense (a prepaid label will be issued) to qualify for a refund.

_gsrx_vers_1480 (GS 9.1.1 (1480))