Art Deco sculpture in white marble depicting a reclining odalisque, leaning on a cushion and holding a fan. Her headdress is stylized, surmounted by a headband in the fashion of the 1930s, and holds back short, curly hair. The face is delicately sculpted, and the gaze is accentuated by almond-shaped, hollowed eyes. The body is sculpted in the classical style and is slightly androgynous. The young woman rests on a base of white marble, carved in the manner of a Turkish carpet, revealing geometric and floral motifs. A second plinth of Medici breccia supports the entire piece. A work of the French school from the early 20th century.

Circa: 1930

Base dimensions: 63cm x 22cm x 3cm (24.80 in x 8.66 in x 1.18 in)

Condition report: In good overall condition. One toe restored. A small crack resembling a vein on the legs.

The figure of the odalisque in art

Odalisques were virgin slaves in the Ottoman seraglio. They were offered to the various women of the Sultan's harem as chambermaids. The figure of the odalisque presented by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres in 1814 became a source of inspiration for this type of artwork from the mid-19th century onward. Indeed, it is these attributes (fan, cushion, turbaned hairstyle, etc.) and this posture with folded legs that are retained and found in representations of the odalisque. In the imagination of Western artists, the figure of the odalisque is most often associated with a fantasized world of sensuality and pleasure, where harem women lounge naked in their homes or in the baths. Throughout the 19th century, the taste for the Orient encouraged the representation of these odalisques in painting and literature. In contrast, sculptures illustrate this theme much less frequently, and our white marble statuette is a rare example.