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Hammered at SEK 580.000 at Uppsala Auktionskammares Important Sale 13-15 June 2018
347. Édouard Marcel Sandoz (Switzerland 1881‑1971). ”Chat assis”. Signed Ed. M. Sandoz and Susse Frs. Edts Paris Cire Perdue. With foundry stamp and seal from Susse Frères, Paris. Patinated bronze, Height 42 cm.
Designed in 1926 and cast by Susse Frères, Paris.
Another example of this sculpture is in the collection of the Musée du Petit Palais, Geneva (10.691).
Provenance:
Sigrid Charlotta Alexandra Nordenmark (1884‑1973), Stockholm.
Thence by descent to Gunborg Skoglund.
A Swedish Private Collection, presented as a gift from the above to the present owner.
Literature:
Henri Clouzot, Quinzième Salon de la Société des Artistes Décorateurs, La Renaissance de l’Art Français et des Industries de Luxe, 1924, p. 399 (similar example illustrated).
Georges Denoinville, Édouard Sandoz sculpteur, Mobilier & Décoration, 1927, p. 125 (example in black marble).
Félix Marcilhac, Edouard Marcel Sandoz, Sculpteur Figuriste et Animalier 1881‑1971, Catalogue Raisonné et L’Oeuvre Sculpté, 1993, no. 392 (similar example illustrated).
The Swiss artist Édouard Marcel Sandoz is first and foremost known for his incredible art nouveau animal sculptures. Sandoz was born in Basel in 1881 and moved to Paris in 1908, where he lived and worked throughout his life. He trained as a sculptor under Jean-Albert Injalbert and Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercie at the École des Beaux-Arts.
Édouard Marcel Sandoz began his career sculpting from life, first focusing on the human form and later on animals, which became his greatest passion and main subject. His freedom of expression was grounded in mastery of classical and traditional techniques.
The outbreak of the First World War significantly slowed the Paris art market down and the access to materials as well as costumers were low. During these difficult years Sandoz then met the famous Limoges porcelain maker, Theodore Haviland, who asked the young artist to design a few porcelain objects for his firm. This turned out to be a very successful collaboration and during the period of ten years Sandoz designed over a hundred pieces of ceramics, spreading from teapots to vases and laps. He truly invented a new style of utilitarian objects that eventually moved the style of Art Nouveau towards the Art déco.
The subject of the sculpture included in this sale, a seated cat, is one that Sandoz explored in multiple mediums, including patinated bronze, earthenware and black and white marble. The version presented in this auction is an example of the “Chat assis” in patinated bronze, with a shiny black surface making the cat almost feel alive. Yet the grace and beautiful lining makes this a great example of an Art déco-sculpture at its best. Édouard Marcel Sandoz’s very personal style, developed in the course of a long career, bears the imprint of the Art Nouveau and Art déco period, in which he was a forceful presence. This seated cat was first designed in 1926 and displays both the technical mastery of Sandoz as well as the introduction of further stylized representations. Another example of this sculpture is in the collection of the Musée du Petit Palais, Geneva.