ƒ Jean-Pierre Cortot (1787-1843), attributed to Agriculture and Navigation Terracotta Circa 1835 H. 50 cm Provenance: Stephen Higgons Collection, Paris, November 20, 1961; Collection Peter W. Josten, New York and Princeton, NJ; By descent This spectacular double-sided display model is undoubtedly the result of a public statuary project: its highly concentrated monumentality and spectacular iconography are intended to arouse surprise and admiration. On one side, a young woman represents Agriculture; she is surrounded by a sickle, a sieve for sowing grain and abundant harvests. A tutelary figure wearing an Egyptian nemesis recalls the Egyptomania of the 1830s, tempered by a bust inspired by statues of Apollo as a radiant sun. On the other side, a figure symbolising Navigation pours water from two amphorae, accompanied by its traditional attributes of the marine compass and rudder, modelled to its left. Stylistically comparable to the statues produced by Cortot around 1835, this double allegory echoes the monumental decorative style of the seated figures of the cities of Rouen and Brest produced in 1836 for the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The hieratic faces are a direct descendant of the neoclassicism in vogue at the turn of the century, while the bodies with their very round arms and legs and the taste for ornamental motifs are typical of Cortot. Our terracotta is also closely related to the bas-relief of the Triumph of Napoleon I, sculpted in 1836 for the Arc de Triomphe: an abundant composition, neoclassicism tempered by a pronounced taste for detail, and a clear desire for decoration. The winged figures of Navigation and Victory crowning Napoleon are both modelled on the same cannon, while the figure of Agriculture, standing firmly on its feet, recalls Napoleon's powerful cannon. A favourite artist at the Salon, a member of the Académie Française and a teacher at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Cortot had a brilliant career and won numerous public commissions. He took part in decorating the Louvre Palace, the Palais de Justice and the Palais Bourbon, but also worked in Calais, Marseille and Bordeaux. His neoclassical style, as solemn as it was decorative, characterised French statuary in the first half of the 19th century.