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stamped with the foundry mark A. A. Hébrard, cire perdue, and numbered B on the wooden base, bronze with muslin skirt, satin hair ribbon and wooden base. Executed in wax circa 1879-81 and cast in bronze in 1922 Sotheby's New York. Although some 150 sculptures in varying states of repair were found in Degas's studio after his death in 1917, only one wax piece had been exhibited during his lifetime, the Petite Danseuse de 14 ans. It was originally intended to be shown in the Fifth Impressionist Exhibition of 1880 and was in fact included in the catalogue as N° 34 but was not ready in time. The following year, Degas was sufficiently satisfied with his three-quarter life-size figure to include it in the Sixth Impressionist Exhibition, where it was listed as N°12, although once again two weeks elapsed before the figure was placed in the empty glass case. Using an armature probably made of wire for the body and of hemp for the arms and hands, Degas worked in modelling wax and then proceeded to dress the figure in clothing made of real fabrics- cream colored grosgrain silk faille for the bodice, tulle and gauze for the tutu, fabric slippers and a satin ribbon tying the hair. This work was much despised by art critics who described it as terrifying and asked why the girl was so ugly. Degas was told that his «opera rat takes after a monkey, an Aztec, a puny specimen» likely to be enclosed in a glass jar of alcohol. Still this work remained Degas's most ambitious surviving sculptures. Louisine Havemeyer tried to buy this work in 1903 as she intended to have it cast in bronze. She made a second attempt to buy the wax after Degas's death but failed yet again. She was eventually successful four years later in purchasing the first bronze cast, which is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York as part of the complete set of Degas bronzes she donated in 1929. The casting took place over a number of years, possibly until at least 1938 but unlike smaller sculptures the numbering is less consistent. Some of the casts were set onto wooden bases into which the artist's signature was burned and to which the Hebrard foundry mark and identifying letter of the cast were affixed while other casts were unlettered. There are some 25 bronze casts of this model as well as the original wax and two plaster versions. |
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