Sculpture, L'Angélus de Jean-François Millet ca. 1860 - 38 cm - Spelter

Sculpture of The Angelus by Jean-François Millet, approximately 38 cm tall and weighing 1.2 kg, depicting a young rural worker in a contemplative pose. The figure has its head tilted, holding his circular hat against his chest and resting on a long shovel, composing an image with a strongly intimate character related to the rural and naturalist iconography developed in France during the 19th century. Given its technical and stylistic characteristics, a French production from the third quarter of the 19th century—roughly between 1860 and 1880—seems plausible, although to date no signature or foundry mark has been located to establish a definite attribution. The piece is made by hollow casting in white metal, probably zinc (zinc d’art), subsequently patinated to imitate the look of bronze. This procedure gained significant diffusion in the second half of the 19th century: specialized sources document a particularly abundant production of zinc sculptures during the 1860s and 1870s, favored by their lower cost compared with bronze and by the possibility of applying finishes that visually reproduce more noble metals. The photograph of the bottom part clearly shows its hollow construction, with visible inner walls of the casting and the pedestal structure. This method aligns with historically documented techniques for zinc sculpture, in which liquid metal was distributed along the interior walls of the mold to obtain relatively light hollow bodies. Inside there is also a small loose metal element audible when the sculpture is carefully inverted. It is probably some old fixing or assembly component—a screw, nut, or similar element—currently detached. Its presence is compatible with historical techniques of constructing zinc sculptures, which could incorporate pieces manufactured separately and later joined with mounting or reinforcement elements. It does not apparently affect the exterior stability of the sculpture. The figure rests on an elaborately historicist Rococo-inspired pedestal, decorated with abundant vegetal scrolls, volutes, and ornamental reliefs. This contrast between the simplicity of the young peasant and the rich decorative pedestal is especially characteristic of the 19th-century historicist taste. The finish preserves an old dark patina with bronze-like appearance, with wear and losses in certain areas that allow viewing the gray tone of the underlying metal. This circumstance is also coherent with aging patinated zinc sculptures: the Smithsonian notes the gray color of the metal as a useful feature for identification, while the Canadian Conservation Institute warns that numerous sculptures apparently bronze from the late 19th and early 20th centuries were in fact made of white metal and later bronzed through surface finishes. Characteristics: probable France, ca. 1860–1880; zinc d’art / patinated régule, attribution of material pending instrumental analysis; hollow casting; 38 cm in height; approximately 1.2 kg; unsigned; old patina with wear and age-appropriate signs; small loose metal element audible inside; exterior structure apparently intact. Theme: young peasant or agricultural worker in a contemplative stance, probably related to the 19th-century French rural figurative tradition and to the iconography of the worker momentarily at rest in his labor.

Stima:€160

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