Raoul-François Larche (1860-1912)
Table lamp 'La danse, la Loie Fuller', model for the Paris World's Fair, 1900
Bronze, cast, fire-gilded. Dancer with raised arms, her floor-length gown draping her body in rich folds. Her long, flowing hair, adorned with a flower, and her veils are flung high in deep swirls, concealing two electric bulbs with bayonet fittings. Inscribed on the hem of the gown: 'RAOUL.LARCHE' and on the opposite side, a round foundry mark: 'SIOT-DECAUVILLE FONDEUR PARIS', stamped number L 231. Electrification renewed. H 46 cm. Provenance: Old private collection, Krefeld. The American dancer Marie Louis Fuller (1862–1928), known as Loie Fuller, made her Parisian debut at the Folies Bergères in 1892, where she performed with her impressive choreography and costumes until 1899. In 1900, she enchanted visitors to the Paris World's Fairs with her veil dances in a specially designed pavilion. Raoul Larche was inspired by her flowing gowns to create his figurative lamps. In 1901, he designed three different bronze sculptures featuring the famous veil dancer. The lamps' electrical components are so cleverly concealed that the sculptures—much like the dancer on stage—are illuminated by a light source that is not immediately apparent, giving the lamps a fairytale-like, mysterious quality. Besides Larche, several other sculptors, including Théodore Rivière and Pierre Roche, created further sculptures the dancer in the style of the present figure. Provenance: Cologne Collection.
Reserve price: 7,000 €
14. November 2026 at 11:00 AM CET
Literature:
Dahan, Philippe: 'Etains 1900 - 200 sculpteurs de la Belle Epoque'. Paris 2000. On Raoul Larche's life and work, see pp. 228 ff., on the 'Loie Fuller' table lamp, p. 235, no. 682; Duncan, Alastair: Art Nouveau and Art Deco Lighting. London 1978, ill. no. 55; Kjellberg. Les bronzes du XIX siècle. Dictionnaire des sculptures. Paris 1987, pp. 436 ff. Further examples in public collections: Museum of Modern Art, New York, obj. no. 109.1973; Bavarian National Museum, Munich, inv. no. SW 81; The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art.
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