René de Saint Marceaux (1845-1915) Harlequin Bronze with brown patina Signed and dated " ST MARCEAUX 1879 " on the terrace Bears the mark " F BARBEDIENNE Fondeur PARIS " and the N° " 201 " in the wax, bears the stamp " REDUCTION MECANIQUE A COLLAS " Dedicated on the terrace " FREDERIC BATAILLE / MON BEAU-FRÈRE / 1886-1891 / SOUVENIR " H : 104 cm Related works: - René de Saint-Marceaux, Harlequin, 1879, plaster, signed and dated "ST MARCEVX / 1879", H. 175 x W. 65.7 x D. 62 cm, Reims, Musée des Beaux-Arts, inv. 880.19.1; - René de Saint-Marceaux, Harlequin, 1879, bronze, Barbedienne cast, signed " ST MARCEAVX / 1879 ", H. 34.2 x W. 17 x D. 11.8 cm, Reims, Musée des Beaux-Arts, inv. 941.3.208. Related literature: Florence Rionnet, Les Bronzes Barbedienne. L'œuvre d'une dynastie de fondeurs (1834-1954), Paris, Arthena, 2016, model listed as Cat.1182, p. 390. A student of Jouffroy, Charles-René de Saint-Marceaux distinguished himself at the 1883 Salon with an important marble sculpture of a Harlequin, then again at the 1889 Exposition Universelle with the same model in bronze. The public welcomed the Harlequin with great enthusiasm, the realistic treatment of the masked face with its sly smile and the terrace treated as a theater floor surprising the visitors. The success of the model led to a production in six dimensions by the founder Barbedienne from 1880