'Theban Dancer,' Art Deco ormolu and marble sculpture by Colinet

This exquisite sculpture is by the esteemed Belgian-French sculptor Claire Jeanne Roberte Colinet. Crafted from a variety of materials—gilt and silvered bronze and beautiful veined green marble—the piece is a materially sumptuous example of Art Deco design. Moreover, the subject matter betrays Orientalising influences, the eponymous dancer being drawn from Ancient Egypt.

The so-called Theban Dancer—Thebes being the capital of Egypt during much of the second millennium BCE—is portrayed mid-dance, her body dramatically fallen to the floor. She sits atop the base, one knee forward and the other leg trailing as if in a slide, with her arms spread limply into the air. She wears exotic and revealing dress, the folds of her skirt draped beautifully about her legs. Her figure is magnificently cast from bronze, the detail throughout—whether the dress she wears, her fingertips, or her hair—demonstrating exceptional detail. Furthermore, the bronze is beautifully gilt and occasionally silvered, the silvering used to accent details on her dress and jewellery.

The figure is supported by a stepped veined green marble base, which is inset to the front with a parcel gilt bronze bas relief plaque decorated with traditional Egyptian motifs in a traditional Egyptian manner.

The bronze figure is stamped ‘94’ and the marble base is inscribed ‘Cl. J. R. Colinet’