EUGENE DELAPLANCHE (FRENCH, 1836–1891)

La Musique was commissioned in marble for the vestibule des abonnés at the Garnier Opera house in Paris in 1870. However it is not clear however if it was ever placed at the Opera as it, or another version in marble, was shown at the Salon in 1878 (n°4178) and at the Exposition nationale des Beux-Arts in 1883. A marble was bought by Carl Jacobsen (1842-1914) in 1878 and remains today on public display at the Glyptotek at Ny Carlsberg, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ferdinand Barbedienne produced under licence an edition of bronzes reduced in scale using the Collas technique. A reduced bronze example like the present lot, was shown at the 1878 Paris Exposition universelle and another sold Christie’s, London, 6 March 2014, lot 210 (£11,250).