Arabian Orientalist Alabaster and Bronze Sculpture After Jean-Baptiste Belloc
This Orientalist period group sculpture depicting semi-nude female atop a strutting camel, is believed to be a work after Jean-Baptiste Belloc (French, 1863-1919). Measures: 22.5 x 22 x 6 in (57 x 56 x 15 cm). The camel is in patinated bronze and the figure is hand-carved from alabaster with gilt highlights. Belloc studied at l’École des beaux-arts de Paris under Mercie, Jules Dumont, Jean-Marie Bonnassieux and Gabriel-Jules Thomas. In this particular work, the camel appears to have been cast from the same model as the work from the collection of Rochelle Sepenuk, sold by Sotheby's in New York on October 21, 2008, in lot 90. This work, entitled Mille et une Nuits (Thousand and One Nights), depicts a couple (carved from alabaster as with our sculpture) atop a strolling camel, inspired by characters from the collection of Arabic texts from the medieval era that were first published in the west beginning in 1704. This collection of stories includes the Orphan Tales which were not included in the original Arabic manuscripts, but which have become among the most popular in the west, including Aladdin and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
