Emile-Coriolan-Hippolyte Guillemin (French, 1841-1907)

Emile Guillemin made his début at the Salon in 1870 with a pair of Roman gladiators, later winning an Honorable Mention for sculpture in 1897. Although his oeuvre included a wide range of subjects, Guillemin specialised in exotic racial types and is renowned as a proponent of the Orientalist movement. An example of the finely detailed polychrome sculptures for which Guillemin is best known, the present model was first exhibited at the Salon of 1880 together with its pendant bust of a Turkish Soldier Janissaire du Sultan Mahmoud II, a pair of which sold Christie's, London, 26 June 2007, lot 84.