THEODORE-RIVIERE Louis-Auguste (1857-1912)

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LOUIS-AUGUSTE THÉODORE-RIVIÈRE – “SALAMMBO CHEZ MATHO”, 1895

“SALAMMBO CHEZ MATHO”, 1895
Carved ivory
Signed and dedicated à mon ami A(ngelo) Mariani

Exhibition
Musée Galliéra, Exposition de la Statuette et du Meuble qui la présente ou l’accompagne, 1914, n. 373,
described as “Salammbô”, ivory (Collection of Mr Jacques Mariani)
Salammbô: Fureur ! Passion ! Elephants !, 20 October 2021-7 February 2022, exposition itinérante au Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, au Mucem à Marseille et à l’Institut national du patrimoine à Tunis

Bibliography
Colette Dumas, Théodore Rivière – sa vie … Son œuvre, p. 61 to p. 66
Salammbo, Mucem, Réunion des Musées Métropolitains de Rouen, Institut National du Patrimoine de Tunisie, éditions Gallimard, 2021, ill. p. 110 in the exhibition catalogue

Provenance
Formerly in the Collection of Mr Angelo Mariani

Angelo Mariani, chemist and inventor of the “Vin Mariani”, a fortifying beverage based on coca bark, a true institution for nearly half a century before its essential component was banned, was the friend and patron of Theodore Riviere, who composed a collection of portraits and statuettes. The period documentation quotes a number of artworks exhibited at different Salons and having belonged to A. Mariani (or by descent to his son Jacques), such as La Caravane, plaster ; le Portrait de M. Mariani, bronze ; Salomé, ivory (our example) ; Les Huns ; Le Mur ; Le Silence, ivory, marble and bronze ; L’Empereur d’Annam, ivory and sculpted wood ; La Femme d’Elchi, ivory, marble and wood ; La brodeuse arabe, ivory, marble and enamels. Angelo Mariani was the patron of several artists including Jean Baffier.
Special order or gift of the artist, this sculpture, which is not among the works on display at the ivory exhibition at the Galliéra Museum in 1903, could have been executed around this date

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LOUIS-AUGUSTE THEODORE-RIVIERE – “LA POMME D’OR”, CIRCA 1900

“LA POMME D’OR”, CIRCA 1900
Original sculpture of a figure representing Eve, carved in ivory, set in a sculpted mahogany tree, a snake applied in enameled silver
Signed on the wooden base
37.5 cm. high

To the best of our knowledge, three works by Théodore-Rivière incorporated enamel by René Lalique among which “La brodeuse arabe” or “La brodeuse tunisienne” from 1897, and a Cambodian dancer. Therefore, it is very likely that our piece was enameled by Lalique as well.

Bibliography
Colette Dumas, Théodore Rivière, sa vie, son œuvre, 1998, ill. page 89, n. 102

Provenance
Private collection of Louis-Auguste Théodore-Rivière
Théodore-Rivière sale, Hôtel Drouot, room 10, 1st December 1909, lot 36

The Musée d’Orsay keeps in its archives the sales record established by Jean (Théodore) Rivière. It comprises 45 lots originating directly from the studio of the artist, among which bronze sculptures in large part, without any of them being cast, thus unique; two or three marbles, two terracottas and two ivory sculptures, one of them being “La Pomme d’Or”. A few works were bought in, and the total of the sale reached 15.251 francs. Two lots reached the highest bid of 1.500 francs, lot 32: “Néron”; turquin blue marble, unique artwork, 36 cm. high; and lot 36: “La Pomme d’Or”, described as “statuette ivoire, serpent argenté émaillé, sur bois des îles socle marbre, hauteur moyenne 40 cent”.

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LOUIS-AUGUSTE THÉODORE-RIVIÈRE – THIEBAUT FRERES, FUMIERE ET GAVIGNOT – “DEUX DANSEUSES”, CIRCA 1905

“DEUX DANSEUSES”, CIRCA 1905
Bronze; representing two naked dancers, one holding a tambourine, the other a laurel wreath
Signed and marked Fumière et Gavinot Thiébaut fondeurs
19 cm. high

A similar example is to be found at the musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims, gift of Mr Henry Vasnier, 1907

Exhibition
1905, Galerie Chaine et Simonson, vitrine XI

Bibliography
Louis Delteil, Théodore Rivière, Revue des Arts décoratifs, 1899, ill. p. 308
Albert Thomas, Théodore Rivière, l'Art décoratif, n. 40, January 1902, ill. p. 133
Louis Vauxelles, Gil Blas, 17 November 1907

Il s'agit de deux personnages détachés du groupe “Mathô vaincu, Défilé de la Hâche ou Retour de Mathô à Carthage ou L'Eléphant d'Hamilcar” dont la maquette en plâtre de 1893, aujourd'hui détruite, figura au Salon des Artistes Français de 1894, n°3536, et pour laquelle l'artiste obtint une médaille de 3ème classe. La place de cette sculpture dans le groupe se situe à droite de la patte arrière droite de l'éléphant.
Une autre maquette en plâtre teinté, terre cuite, fil de fer et bois provenant de l'atelier du sculpteur dispersé à Lyon en 1972 a été reconstituée en 1930 par la fille de l'artiste et se trouve aujourd'hui au Victoria and Albert Museum de Londres

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LOUIS-AUGUSTE THEODORE-RIVIERE – “ADAM ET EVE”, OR “L’ETREINTE”, OR “PARADIS PERDU”, CIRCA 1900

“ADAM ET EVE”, OR “L’ETREINTE”, OR “PARADIS PERDU”, 1903
Bronze with a green patina; on a streaked green marble stepped base
33 cm. high

Exibition
Art de l’Ivoire, 1903, Musée Galliéra
Salon de la Société des Artistes français, 1905, Arts Décoratifs section, n. 5017 for the sculpture in ivory owned by the Ville de Paris
Exposition de la statuette et du meuble qui l’accompagne, Palais Galliéra, 1914, n. 379
Inaugural Exposition of French Art in the California Palace of the Legion of Honor,
Lincoln Park, San Francisco, California, 1924-1925, for the example in bronze exhibited under n. 197

Bibliography
Maurice Rheims, The flowering of Art Nouveau, Harry N. Abrams Inc., New York, n.d., the example in ivory ill. p. 203, n. 250
L’Estampille, March 1983, p. 63, n. 155 for the original example in plaster coming from the
estate of Théodore Rivière, and described as “Adam et Eve enlacés, le visage de l’homme enfoui dans le creux de l’épaule de sa compagne qui, angoissée, regarde le ciel…”.

Mrs Alma de Bretteville Spreckels donated an example in bronze of this sculpture to the
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, inv. 1937-8-6, 1948, which is
now in the collections of the Maryhill Museum, Maryhill, Washington, USA, inv.:14-19.
An example in ivory was acquired by the Ville de Paris for the collections of the Musée Galliéra, 1906. It is now at the Petit
Palais, Paris, inv. O.GAL.12.
No other examples are known to exist.