OCEAN LINER/ART DECO: JEAN DUNAND (1877-1942) "La Conquete ...

Estimate

£15,000 - £20,000

OCEAN LINER/ART DECO: JEAN DUNAND (1877-1942) "La Conquete du Cheval" (The Conquest of the Horse), Important S.S. Normandie Smoking room gilt lacquer maquette panel, stamped on reverse, circa 1934. 9¾ins. x 10¼ins.
The Normandie was Launched in 1932 and entering service in 1935, she was without doubt one of the most luxurious liners ever and a showcase for Art Deco representing the best in French design from the era. Her construction, which saw unique commissions from René Lalique, Jean Dunand and Jean Dupas, among other leading artists and designers. Dunand was commissioned to design the ship's First-Class smoking room, which included eighteen panels in gold and colour lacquer depicting La Conquête du cheval, meaning, the conquest of the horse of which this panel is a maquette for. As illustrated by his designs for the S.S. Normandie, the conquest of the horse was a recurring subject in Dunand's work, Dunand was interested in showing movement and perspective through the display of multiple horses, though other animals of which this work shows that great talent.
Provenance Miottel Museum, prior Lot 287 Marc Arthur Kohn Auctioneers Paris.
Literature: J. Maxtone-Graham, Normandie: France's Legendary Art Deco Ocean Liner, New York, 2007, pp. 95, 97, 220 (for period photographs of the Smoking Room)
F. Marcilhac and A. Marcilhac, Jean Dunand, Paris, 2020, pp. 8-9, 156 (for period photograph of the Smoking Room on the Normandie), 157 (for a period photograph of Dunand in his studio in front of the model of La Conquête du cheval), 160 (for a period photograph of the Smoking Room on the Normandie), 275-276, no. 269-278
L. Reade, "The French Line Quadruple-screw Turbo-electric North Atlantic Steamship: Normandie", Ocean Liners of the Past: No. 5 in a series of reprints from 'The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine Builder', Greenwich, 1970, p. 119, fig. 8, 120, fig. 9 (for a period photograph of the Smoking Room), 124, fig. 19