Aimé-Jules DALOU Paris, 1838 - 1902 Bust of a child Limestone Height : 52 cm Child's Torso, limestone, by A. J. Dalou H.: 20,47 in. Provenance: Charles Auzoux Collection; Then by descent ; Its sale, Paris, Artcurial, 24 March 2022, n° 217 ; Acquired at this sale by the current owner; Private collection, Paris Exhibitions: 'Les trésors retrouvés des ateliers d'artistes au temps de Rodin. Collection Charles Auzoux 1870-1910', Paris, Louvre des Antiquaires, 5 May - 10 September 1995, p. 65, n° X-30, repr. p. 23 Bibliography: related: Amélie Simier (dir.), 'Jules Dalou, le sculpteur de la République', cat. exp. Paris, Petit Palais, 2013, p. 363, model referenced under no. 292 Comment: Throughout his career, Dalou was passionate about the figure of the child, which he proposed in different forms and according to different canons. Thus, when he was commissioned in 1877 to create a funerary monument in homage to Queen Victoria's five grandchildren who died in infancy, he executed it with great enthusiasm. Infant mortality was a sadly common phenomenon at the time, affecting the working classes as well as Europe's greatest courts. Dalou chose to evoke this difficult subject by giving pride of place to an angel, as a protective tutelary figure, holding three babies in her arms while two others press against her legs. Our powerful object is traditionally considered to be a preparatory work for this monument. It features a bust of a child, carved directly into the stone. Interestingly, our bust remained in the rough, the sculptor not wishing to complete his work for reasons that unfortunately escape us. A marble bust of the same model is currently in the Petit Palais, as is the terracotta sketch, which differs in a few details. The unfinished aspect of our stone, with the tool marks, the rough stone on the reverse and the small reference holes, gives it a modern, almost avant-garde character.