{"id":13566,"date":"2026-03-17T14:08:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T13:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.galerienicolasbourriaud.com\/produit\/masque-de-la-mort\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T14:14:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T13:14:44","slug":"masque-de-la-mort","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.galerienicolasbourriaud.com\/en\/produit\/masque-de-la-mort\/","title":{"rendered":"MASK OF DEATH"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mask of Death<\/em>\u00a0occupies a singular place in the oeuvre of Jules Desbois. Its genesis is closely linked to a recurring figure in his imagination: Death personified, whose contemplation in its most extreme ugliness was intended to release the anxiety it inspires. The modeling of this mask, with its hollowed features and sagging flesh, directly reprises the realist and deeply human aesthetic developed in\u00a0Death and the Woodcutter<\/em>, a group exhibited in 1890 at the inaugural Salon of the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Nationale des Beaux-Arts, which first brought the artist to public attention. The allegory of Death assumes the features of an emaciated old woman \u2014 a figure Desbois also employed in the Misery<\/em>, shown in 1894 \u2014 whose prominent cheekbones, toothless grin and cavernous eye sockets reappear in the present mask.<\/p>\n

In giving form to such human decay, Desbois aligned himself with the current of expressive sculpture initiated by Auguste Rodin, whom he first met in 1878 while both were working on the decoration of the Palais du Trocad\u00e9ro, and with whom he collaborated again, more significantly, beginning in 1884.<\/p>\n

Desbois first exhibited a\u00a0Mask of Death<\/em>\u00a0in pewter in 1893. Reflecting his taste for the fragment, probably inherited from Rodin, the mask inevitably also evokes the death mask. At the close of the nineteenth century, the genre enjoyed exceptional success, fueled by the discovery of Japanese Noh theatre masks and by the experiments of the ceramicist Jean Carri\u00e8s, whose stoneware \u201cmasks of horror\u201d explored new expressive possibilities.<\/p>\n

Stoneware was a medium particularly favored by Carri\u00e8s for the range of effects achievable through varied glazes. Around 1890\u20131894, Desbois and Carri\u00e8s were acquainted and maintained friendly relations. Yet it was to Carri\u00e8s\u2019s pupil, the ceramicist Paul Jeanneney, that Desbois turned to transpose his\u00a0Mask of Death<\/em>\u00a0into stoneware in 1903\u20131904. Among the few known examples, some bear the signatures of both artists along with the date 1903 (Zimmerli Art Museum) or 1904 (private collection, Sotheby\u2019s sale, 2023) and occasionally the inscription \u201cSt Amand,\u201d referring to Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye, the probable site of production where Jeanneney maintained his studio.<\/p>\n

The present example is covered in a light brown glaze subtly nuanced with bile-green tones, heightening the anguish of its expression. It once bore an old label bearing Rodin\u2019s signature. It so happens that Paul Jeanneney executed Rodin\u2019s\u00a0Head of Balzac<\/em>\u00a0in stoneware during the same period. Whether this label reflects a misattribution or remains from an earlier exhibition in which both artists participated remains uncertain; in any case, it once again underscores the close ties between them.<\/p>\n

Situated at the crossroads of sculpture and the decorative arts, this rare and emblematic work of Symbolism also reflects a characteristic ambition of the period: the fusion of the arts and the reconciliation of artistic creativity with craftsmanship.<\/p>\n

We are most grateful to Mr. Florian Stalder, Departmental Curator of Museums for Maine-et-Loire, for the valuable information he has generously provided.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jules DESBOIS \u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n

Glazed stoneware
\nH. 10 \u00bd\u201d(26.5cm) \u2013 W. 8\u00bc\u201d \u00a0(21cm) \u2013 D. 5 \u201d (12.5 cm)
\nFragment of label: H. 10 \u00bc\u201d (26 cm) \u00a0\u2013 W. 8 \u201d (20.5 cm)
\n1903\u20131904<\/p>\n

Related works:\u00a0Montreal, Mus\u00e9e des Beaux-Arts, inv. 2011.202; New Jersey, Zimmerli Art Museum, inv. 2001.0970; Par\u00e7ay-les-Pins, Mus\u00e9e Jules Desbois, inv. P.R. D. 001.2.3; Nevers, Mus\u00e9e de la Fa\u00efence et des Beaux-Arts, inv. NF 1296.<\/p>\n

Bibliography:\u00a0Pierre Maillot and Raymond Huard,\u00a0Jules Desbois, sculpteur (1851\u20131935)<\/em>, Paris, 2001; Charles Saunier, \u201cLa sculpture aux Salons de 1893,\u201d\u00a0La Plume<\/em>, no. 100, pp. 278\u2013279;\u00a0Masques, de Carpeaux \u00e0 Picasso<\/em>, exh. cat., Paris, 2008, nos. 148\u2013149, pp. 37 and 241<\/span><\/p>\n

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