19th Century French Ormolu Sculpture of a Baccante, by Jean-Léon Gérôme

This amazing sculpture is called ‘Bacchante à L’Amour’ or ‘Bacchante à la Grappe’. The piece is made out of ormolu or doré bronze and demonstrates bacchante, who is a woman follower of Bacchus. Bacchus is the Greek G-D of parties and wine, otherwise known in Roman mythology as Dionysus. Bacchante is seen with her head against a thyrsos, a special staff created of a fennel plant. At the top is an acorn finial with vines around it. The thyrsos and Bacchus are symbolic of fertility, wealth, and a life-time of pleasures. At the mid section of the thyrsos is a beautiful ormolu putti climbing up while the Bacchante holds fruit, most probably grapes, above him.

The figure is mounted on a round base with Jean-Léon Gérôme’s signiture, ‘JL. Gérôme’ as well as the number C575. The Parisian Foundry mark can also be found on the base from Siot-Decauville, Paris, the location where this figure was cast. The figure was made in 1892 in three size variations.
Paris, circa 1892

Literature: See Gerald M. Ackerman, The Life and Work of Jean-Léon Gérôme (1986), Fig. S.25, p. 318.