French antique (early 20thC) bronze sculpture, ''Le Secret de Pandora'' (Pandora''s box) by Maurice Bouval (1863-1916), featuring a semi-clad Pandora holding a box. Signed on the tiered stone base ‘M Bouval’. 38cm high x 8cm (12.5cm including base), 2.95kg.
Excellent condition and patina.
Pandora''s box is a mythical artifact from Greek mythology, famously featured in Hesiod''s 700BC poem ‘Works and Days’. It''s associated with the story of Pandora, the first mortal woman, who was given a box as a wedding gift with the strict instruction not to open it. Driven by irresistible curiosity, Pandora opened the box, unleashing all manner of evils upon humanity. The box also contained hope, which remained trapped inside after Pandora closed the lid.
Maurice Bouval (French, 1863 ~ 1920) was born in Toulouse, France and was a student of the grand-master Alexandre Falguière. Bouval was a prolific sculptor of functional bronzes such as table lamps, sconces, inkwells, candlesticks, salt
...cellars, covered boxes, and some non-functional decorative pieces. From 1880 until the beginning of the First World War he was very successful in his sculpting, often gilding smaller bronze objects and usually incorporating the female form. He participated in the 1890 Exposition Universelle in Paris and exhibited with the Societé des Artistes Français regularly, first as a sculptor, then in the decorative arts section. He also showed with La Maison Goldscheider.
Internal Reference: AD681
Antique ID Number (AIDN): SA1157532
Dateline of this antique is 1900
Height is 38cm (15.0inches)Width is 12.5cm (4.9inches)Depth is 0cm (0.0inches)
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