Jean-Léon Gérôme La Danseuse au Cerceau

Jean-Léon Gérôme

French

1824 - 1904

La Joueuse De Cerceau - The Hoop Dancer

A mini gilt bronze female figural statue of a young hoop dancer inspired by a trove of ancient terracotta statuettes discovered at the archaeological site of Tanagra at Boeotia, Greece, in 1878, that enchanted the public’s imagination.

Uniquely among his sculpted works, Gérôme envisioned the subject of the Hoop Dancer as both an independent artwork and as part of a larger ensemble. In 1890, plagued by accusations that he could not render movement or emotion in stone, he produced two interpretations of the classical and idealized female form. One, a large seated monumental nude, stretches her hand outward, stoic, sober, and still. Balanced on her palm is the graceful Hoop Dancer, turning and twirling in a cascade of seemingly liquid Grecian robes. Her head dipping into a golden ring that she cradles in one hand; in the other is a golden ball. Gérôme’s investigation into the rhythmic movement of the female body and the contortions of the human form, exemplified through her. 

Inscribed J.L. GROME on base and stamped Soit Paris / P74.
Height 9" (22.8 cm) X width 3.5" (8.9 cm), depth 5" (12.7 cm)