The aim of this database is to establish an index of western polychrome sculpture produced between 1848 and 1916 in public collections in France. Sculptures in public buildings and religious buildings are not included, and neither are collections of anatomical wax models, ethnographical moulds, and sculptures in the field of popular art. They may be the focus of separate research in their own right outside the domain of the fine arts. Read more
The boundary between objets d’art and sculptures is often ill-defined, particularly in the late 19th century. The only ceramics included are statuettes produced by sculptors and ceramicists in a proven collaboration. Vases decorated with figures are utilitarian objects and do not, therefore, fall within the scope of the corpus.
The choice of chronological boundaries for the research proved to be problematic. We focused on the period spanned by the collections of the Musée d’Orsay, 1848-1914, and also included some exceptions which were already in the collection. These were primarily Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) whose bust of Madame Renoir (RF 2764) is dated 1916, and also Antoine Bourdelle (1861 – 1929) and Paul Dardé (1888-1963), most of whose polychrome works were produced post-1914. Read more
Sculpture is defined as statues, statuettes, groups, busts, heads, masks, esquisses, bas-reliefs, high-reliefs, plaques, and medallions. All types of material are included – earth, wax, plaster, terracotta, cement, marble, alabaster, stone, ivory, wood, pâte de verre and ceramic (earthenware, stoneware) – provided they are painted (oil, gouache or any other medium), or feature gold or silver gilding. Gilded plaster works are systematically included as polychromywas clearly intended. These materials can be composite (marble, bronze, ivory, etc.), and chryselephantine statuettes are therefore included in the corpus. Metal highlights and inlays, enamelled or not, and precious and semi-precious stone inlays are also included. Multiple patinas are considered to be polychromy.