Dynamic & Masterful French Art Deco “Egyptian Revival” Alabaster Sculpture of a Nude, Stunningly Beautiful & Tall, Circa 1920s

This amazing French Art Deco sculpture of a nude is “as if stopped in time” raising her arms in a “dance”  with a large veil, all masterfully carved in alabaster . The alabaster base has a large carved Egyptian hieroglyph on the upper “burnt umber” coloured portion.  The “Egyptian Revival” style, like the Gothic and Classical Revival styles, was popular in the decorative arts throughout the nineteenth century, continuing into the 1920s. Scholars refer to this period as “Egyptomania”, an obsession with Egyptian antiquities.

Enthusiasm for the artistic style of Ancient Egypt is generally attributed to the excitement over Napolean’s conquest of Egypt and, in Britain, to Admiral Nelson’s defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. Napoleon took a scientific expedition with him to Egypt where publications of their findings began in 1809 and came out in a series through 1826. Monumental Egyptian-inspired sculpture was erected throughout Paris during this time. The vocabulary of ancient Egyptian motifs (obelisks, hieroglyphs, the sphinx, and pyramids) provided an “exotic alternative” to various artistic media of the day and were applied to a wide variety of decorative art objects, starting early in the 19th century. The discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, propelled these Egyptian influences to pervade into modern culture. This revival of Egyptian motifs became an ” iconic” style, an integral part of the language of Art Deco, dominating the decorative arts until the mid-1930s.

A really wonderful example, circa 1920s, of motifs from both the Egyptian Revival style and the Art Deco Period producing a “dynamic synergy” in this exquisite alabaster sculpture.

Dimensions: height 30″ x width 11″ x depth 5.5″