étienne Henri Dumaige (1830–1888) The Musicians

Pair of bronze sculptures with triple patina, light brown, dark brown, and gold, signed Dumaige.

Circa 1870

Height of the sculptures without the columns: 160 cm.

This sumptuous pair of bronze sculptures is the work of the French academic sculptor Étienne Henri Dumaige, an artist active in the second half of the 19th century. A student of Auguste Dumont and Jean-Jacques Feuchère, Dumaige exhibited regularly at the Salon from 1863 onward. He adhered to the neoclassical and historicist style that was very popular during the Second Empire.

The two life-size female figures represent musical allegories: one holds a triangle, the other plays cymbals. Draped in antique-style tunics that are both light and expertly modeled, they embody ideal beauty according to academic canons, combining restrained sensuality and spiritual elevation. Their graceful posture, the haughty carriage of their heads, and their gentle yet focused expressions underscore their symbolic character: they are not simply musicians, but personifications of musical and rhythmic art.

Dumaige demonstrates here a perfect mastery of bronze sculpture: the draperies are rendered with remarkable virtuosity, while the details, bracelets, sandals, instruments are enhanced with gilded bronze, in refined contrast with the brown patina.