Dear ronsr,
I can answer your question; but I'm afraid that it might be a bit of a
desillusion for you.
The female bronze bust "Javotte" is the work of French sculptor
Emmanuel Villanis, who signed his busts "E. Villanis", with an "n"
that could be really easily misread for an "r". Please click the
following link to see an example of how Villanis signed one of his
works:
http://134.147.62.2/fhy/vill-signatur-07k.jpg
(Source: Website of F. Haberey, listed below)
Emmanuel Villanis was born in 1858 in Lille, France as the child of
parents from Northern Italy. His date of birth makes it impossible
that one of his works ever belonged to one of French emperor
Napoleon's mistresses: Napoleon I left France, defeated, in 1815 and
died in 1821 as British prisoner on the island of St. Helena. His
nephew Napoleon III reigned as French emperor from 1852 to 1870 and
died in 1873, when Villanis was only 15 years old and still . So,
dissaponting as this may be, there is no chance that his bust
"Javotte" is connected with the girlfriend of any of those two French
emperors (except if the woman in question bought it many, many years
later. But that would not be too remarkable).
But back to Emmanuel Villanis. Though he was was a famous sculptor in
the late Victorian era and the Art Nouveau period, hardly any facts
about the life of E. Villanis can be found in art literature. In his
young years, he received education as a sculptor in Italy. From 1886,
he is working in France. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from
1886-1914 and received an Honorable Mention at the Paris Exposition
Universelle in 1889. The apogee of his activity were the Art Nouveau
years around 1900. His works are almost exclusively female subjects.
His pieces are easily recognized by the artistic scrolling of the
subjects name below her face. Also readily identified as Villanis are
the perfect, ideally proportioned features of his women's faces; he
used a deep cut for the eyes - a technique that was in sharp contrast
to other sculptors of the time who tried to reproduce the natural
eyeball. The years around 1900 were the meridian of Villanis'
activities. He died in France in 1914.
The spelling of the name varies: Sometimes, it is Villani (Italian),
and sometimes Villanis (French). There are many reproductions,
adaptions, copies or fakes of his oeuvre. Most of them are made in the
US or Taiwan today. But there are also old reproductions that were
produced by French foundries like "Société des Bronzes de Paris",
"Eugen Blot" and others who were the legal manufacturers of Villanis'
works when he was still alive and working.
Of course, only an art expert could examine your bust and then let you
know whether it is a relatively new version, or an old and thus
valuable "original" reproduction.
F. Haberey is a German collector and expert for Emmanuel Villanis'
works. He offers help at getting information on the artist and
particular pieces. You can contact him using this e-mail address:
F.HABEREY@IEEE.ORG
You might want to have a look at these websites by Villanis expert
Haberey, providing additional information on the artist and his
sculptures:
Biography of E. Villanis, by F. Haberey
http://www.kinderinfo.de/haberey/florian/villvita-gb.htm
E. Villanis' Oeuvre, by F. Haberey
http://www.lwe.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/fhy/villwork.htm
Sculptures of E. Villanis, by F. Haberey
http://www.lwe.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/fhy/villpics.htm
VCC - International Villanis Collector Club
http://www.lwe.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/fhy/vcc.htm
E. Villanis Info Page, by F. Haberey
http://www.lwe.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/fhy/villinfo.htm
Other sources used:
Wishful Things: Bronze Sculpture Saida by Villanis
http://www.wishfulthings.com/catalog/Archives:Decorative_Art:Metals.html
JL Gallery Arts ETC: Villanis Reproductions
http://www.jlgalleryartsetc.com/villanis.htm
Search terms used:
javotte sculpture
://www.google.de/search?q=javotte+sculpture&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=de&meta=
"Emmanuel Villanis"
://www.google.de/search?q=%22Emmanuel+Villanis%22&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&start=10&sa=N
"Emmanuel Villanis" 1858
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22Emmanuel+Villanis%22+1858&meta=
Hope this was interesting, informative, and helpful for you!
Best regards,
Scriptor |