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Claudius Linossier Dinanderie "Maenad" Charger
$75,000
This French Art Deco Charger, by Claudius Linossier, was created using the technique known as dinanderie, which involved decorating hammering out copper vessels to produce subtle but beautiful gradations of color. The charger features a Maenad, a female follower of Dionysus. During the orgiastic rites of Dionysus, maenads roamed the mountains possessed by the god, performing frenzied, ecstatic dances. These Maenads were often depicted on attic pottery friezes, dancing between satyrs. The gesture of hands behind the head was performed in Emelia, the dance of tragedy, performed to enhance events performed on the stage.
- Product Details
- Curator's Notes
Item #: B-20668
Artist: Claudius Linossier
Country: France
Circa: 1925
Dimensions: 19.5" diameter
Materials: Patinated Copper, Silver
Signed: incised CL-LINOSSIER
Literature: J. Gaillard, Claudius Linossier, dinandier: un Lyonnais célèbre des années vingt, Lyon, 1993, p. 11 (for a sketch of a related design)
The figure’s costume was inspired by Leon Bakst’s Salome costume design for the Ballet Russe. Bakst’s design for Ballet Russe greatly influenced Neoclassical Art Deco. The figure’s mantle (himation) references the dotted mantles of Bakst’s Cleopatra, Afternoon of a Faun, and Narcisse. In the Ballet Russe’ Grecian plays, much of the movement took place with groups of dancers passing each other in parallel lines, as if in a moving frieze. As the focus of attention passes from one group to another, dancers took a stylized pose, as might be seen on an ancient vase, and become still.