White marble Odalisque from the Art Deco period

Art Deco sculpture in white marble representing a reclining odalisque, leaning on a cushion and holding a fan. The headdress is stylized, topped by a headband in the fashion of the 1930s and holds short, curly hair. The work on the face is fine and the look is accentuated by hollowed out almond-shaped eyes. The body is sculpted in the antique style and slightly androgynous. The young woman rests on a white marble base carved in the manner of a Turkish carpet, revealing geometric and floral motifs. A second base in Breche Medici supports the whole. Work of the French school of the early twentieth century.

Circa: 1930

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

Overall dimensions: W: 65cm, D: 22cm, H: 40cm.
Overall dimensions: W: 25,6in, D: 8,7in, H: 15,7in.

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

The figure of the odalisque in art

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