Gladiator With Lion, Art Deco Bronze By Jean Verschneider

A very beautiful Art Deco bronze depicting a lion tamer and signed on the base Verschneider for Jean Verschneider (1872-1943).
A rather rare Art Deco bronze on the market, masterfully crafted by Jean Verschneider, a celebrated sculptor of the time who was interested in many diverse fields: the circus and fairground arts, mythology and allegories, the creation of automobile mascots. Jean Verschneider was a French sculptor.
His work was part of the sculpture competition for the 1924 Summer Olympics. And upon closer inspection, one finds some similarities between this bronze and the work of Demeter Chiparus. Our bronze depicts a lion tamer in stage costume, likely performing a circus cat.
his costume, particularly elaborate, reflects the Art Deco standards of the time and draws heavily on classical antiquity. It resembles the costume of a gladiator or Persian warrior straight out of ancient Greece.
He is positioned in a very virile contrapposto pose, his left arm extended upwards, holding a whip, his right arm almost resting on the roaring lion at his side. Of course, no one is too cautious, and we see the man's gaze fixed on the lion he dominates. Nevertheless, the sculptor has managed to capture not only the power emanating from the two figures in this circus act but also their essential connection.
A subject that is not easy to render in sculpture without Falling into excess towards the vulgar or the grotesque is a risk. Here, the two protagonists are superbly rendered and form a beautiful duo. The chiseling details are very fine: look closely at the man's face and the details of his stage costume, including the whip, but also at the lion's mouth and the way its fur is depicted. The patina is magnificent, a brown patina tending towards green with slightly golden effects, complemented by a very beautiful sea-green marble base whose shades of green and black blend perfectly with the nuances of the bronze's patina.

A very beautiful Art Deco bronze, a very interesting subject.

Dimensions:
46 cm high x 18 cm long at the base x 16 cm wide.

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