El Gaitero - Celstin Calmels 1822–1906 - Bagpiper

Height: approx. 51 cm
Width: approx. 17 cm
Terrace Ø: 13.5 cm

on the rim of the base

Do you know the muiñeira—a dance performed by Galician and Asturian peasants in the countryside after the harvest, when the wheat was taken to the mill, hence its name (muiñeira, meaning “miller’s wife”)? It was accompanied by the gaita (bagpipes), drums, tambourines, and sometimes a charrasco (a small guitar with five double strings), and conchas (seashells rubbed together).
Célestin Antoine CALMELS, with his statue of the Gaitero (a Spanish noun), evokes the heart of the Galician or Asturian countryside. He has sculpted a bagpipe player full of energy and grace. With a youthful face illuminated by a focused gaze and his nimble fingers dancing across the pipes of his bagpipes, the young man begins a dance step, as if carried away by the music. He is dressed in a loose-fitting camisa (shirt) made of thick linen. His felt chaqueta (jacket) is casually draped over his shoulder. He wears calzón, short pants ending at the knees, complemented by woolen stockings—the polainas—which protect his calves from mud and brambles. He wears a felt hat decorated with ivy leaves. On the terrace, the sheaf of wheat serves as a reminder that the gaitero accompanies with his light music the lively dance performed by the peasants at the end of the harvest, when the wheat is taken to the mills…
As a testament to customs now forgotten, this charming statue evokes a joyful and convivial moment in the lives of Galician farmers.


Celestin CALMELS

A hard worker, he produced a substantial body of work throughout his long life. He sculpted a bust of the painter Théodore GÉRICAULT (which can be admired at the Louvre) and of the philosopher Pierre-Simon BALLANCHE for the Institute. He created a statue of the printer Johannes GUTENBERG for the Imperial Printing Office, of the physicist Denis PAPIN, of Saint Clément (intended for the Saint-Jacques Tower in Paris), and of Calypso for the Emperor’s Residence (now on display at the Musée de Picardie in Amiens). He also produced several works for various churches, including a Stations of the Cross that was so successful it was reproduced by various bronze casters under their own names and was, moreover, exhibited at the 1855 World’s Fair.

In 1858, Célestin Antonin CALMELS settled in Portugal with his wife. He then worked for the Portuguese Crown, the ducal family of PALMELA, and numerous Portuguese dignitaries. In 1866, he completed an equestrian statue of Dom Pedro IV, which stands in Praça da Liberdade (Liberty Square) in Porto. Lisbon continues to display the work of Célestin Antonin CALMELS in Lisbon, on the Arc de Triomphe in Praça do Comércio, in Lisbon (1872). Nevertheless, he remained close to his French roots, and in 1874, he became the correspondent for the French Academy of Fine Arts in Lisbon.

Célestin Antonin CALMELS died at the age of 84 in Lisbon on March 23, 1906.

To learn more: https://www.lestresorsdegamaliel.com/sculptures/557-el-gaitero-celestin-antonin-calmels.html

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