R Frappiez/couraud Paris Workshop, Circa 1900 Monumental Orientalist Fresco Tiger Trainers

INTERIOR DECORATION

Early 20th century exceptional and monumental patinated plaster panel depicting an orientalist frieze of Bedouins who have captured and are taming a tiger, set in a mountainous desert landscape.

This architectural and monumental light bas-relief patinated staff fresco (155 cm LENGTH x 115cm HEIGHT), with an orientalist subject, bears the incised signatures of the artist R. FRAPPIEZ (bottom right, slanted, appearing handwritten and less clear) and J COURAUD Paris (very regular, as if applied with a stamp with uniform depth, bottom left, blending into the decoration).
The raw material, staff (plaster reinforced with a wooden/fiber structure, sometimes with resin), appeared late 19th or early 20th century. It allows the reproduction of an original sculpted work in unique only a few limited copies. The orientalist theme was fashionable at this period, and French artists and others frequently represented and depicted scenes from North Africa and the Middle East.

This type of architectural frieze was commonly used at that period for projects for WORLD OR COLONIAL EXHIBITIONS of the early 20th century, often in competitions, or also frequently for the exotic architectural ornamentation of luxuous apartments or private villas.
Its thinness (only 5 cm) and relatively light weight were designed to allow easy hanging on woodwork frames. These panels could also be conceived as temporary decorations, easily replaceable within interior decor.

*René FRAPPIEZ (1879-1953), a member of the Société des Artistes Français, is a French sculptor specifically known for his decorative art bas-reliefs. Sculptor and medalist, student of the academic sculptors Louis-Ernest BARRIAS (Paris 1841-Paris 1905) and Jules COUTANT (Paris 1848–Paris 1939),
*J COURAUD in Paris refers to a well-known molding and manufacturing workshop, producing these monumental decorative panels in plaster/stucco, notably for architectural decorations or Parisian exhibitions, collaborating with various sculptors and interior decorators (showroom, apartment, theater, …)
The combination of these informations suggests that COURAUD is likely the workshop that realized the creation imagined and sculpted by the artist FRAPPIEZ. In any case, this is indeed a work that links the artist to the craftsman. The piece seems to be dated to the 1900's/1910's, reflecting the era's taste for the Orient and Exoticism.

Three walking Bedouins, wearing loose clothing and turbans, are controlling a tiger they have just captured, with thick and taut ropes, while a fourth man, on a dromedary, points a lance at the beast to help his companions to lead and master the dangerous animal.

Condition:
This panel is surprisingly and exceptionally in perfect condition,considering its very fragile material and the law thinness of the panel.
The original overall patina is also ideally preserved; the warm colors (ochres, browns, reds, yellows) convey the arid atmosphere of this desert scene.

Influences: this work evokes colonial decorations, Parisian universal or colonial exhibitions around 1900.The work is thus typical of the French decorative tradition of this period, marked by a fascination with the Orient and Colonies. It presents genuine artistic interest due to the quality of its modeling, its narrative composition, and its aged patina, but also historical interest, bearing witness to the dialogue between art and craftsmanship in early 20th-century Parisian workshops, reflecting the Belle Époque taste for Orientalism.

While the manufacturer's signature on the fresco is perfectly legible, the one of the artist who carved and created the subject is much less so, as spurious scratches obscure its readability. An impression was made using modeling clay to decipher the artist's name, leaving no doubt about it.

I can already imagine with delight the possible result of hanging this unusual work on a large, tall white wall in an apartment (Parisian? why not, since that is likely its origin and intended destination), with moldings...