Terms and conditions of use
Dancer with scarf her knee raised, from The Scarf Dance table centrepiece, model no. 12
(Danseuse à l’écharpe genou levé, from the table centrepiece Le Jeu de L’Écharpe)
modelled 1898; manufactured (1923)
Medium
porcelain (biscuit, hard paste)
Measurements
53.0 × 35.0 × 16.7 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2021
Gallery location
Mid 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
This work is one of the most iconic expressions of the Art Nouveau style, embodying the principles of organic form and movement, and representing a liberated female form. The original work comprised fifteen female figures dressed in flowing garments and dancing with scarves and musical instruments. The central figure playing the horns leads the dancers and the suite is complemented with a pair of torch bearers on pedestals, who oversee the performance. The figures are dynamic studies in movement and drapery and while each individual has a distinctive character and pose, the
group possesses a rhythm and harmony that contributes to the unity of the whole.
The work was commissioned by the Sèvres porcelain manufactory and modelled by the sculptor Agathon Léonard in 1897. It was first exhibited as a table centrepiece at the Paris International Exhibition in 1900 where Sèvres won a Grand Prix medal. It was described in the exhibition report as ‘elegant figures in a graceful and charming ensemble which were a great and deserved success’. Following the Exhibition, the series was produced in two different sizes, the ‘premiere’ (first) and ‘deuxieme grandeur’ (second size). These figures are from the larger, or first, size.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Sèvres, Seine-et-Oise, France
Accession Number
2021.542
Department
International Decorative Arts