Ref: 2399
The four ages of Arab women
Gustave Hierholtz
Ref: 2399
The four ages of Arab women
Gustave Hierholtz
Circa 1912 - 1918
22 x 65 x 43 cm (8⁵/₈ x 25⁵/₈ inches)
Signed: G. Hierholtz
22 x 65 x 43 cm (8⁵/₈ x 25⁵/₈ inches)
Signed: G. Hierholtz
Exhibition: Similar surtouts entitled “Les quatre âges de la femme arabe” are in the collection of the Musée des Arts Africans et Océaniens (inv. no. AF15522) and in the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac (inv. no. 75.15522.1).
Literature: E. Bénézit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs, Vol. 4, founded 1960, p. 698
Jean-Charles Hachet, "Dictionnaire illustré des Sculpteurs Animaliers & Fondeurs de l'Antiquité a nos jours", Argus valeur titres, Bilbao 2005,
Elizabeth Cazenave, La Villa Abd el Tif, a demi siècle de vie artistique en Algérie, 1907 – 1962, 1998, éditions les Abd el Tif.
Stéphanie Richemond, Les Salons des Artistes Coloniaux, éditions de l'Amateur, 2003
H. Havard, Les salons de 1907 - Revue de l'art ancien et moderne, p. 58 – 78
Jean-Charles Hachet, "Dictionnaire illustré des Sculpteurs Animaliers & Fondeurs de l'Antiquité a nos jours", Argus valeur titres, Bilbao 2005,
Elizabeth Cazenave, La Villa Abd el Tif, a demi siècle de vie artistique en Algérie, 1907 – 1962, 1998, éditions les Abd el Tif.
Stéphanie Richemond, Les Salons des Artistes Coloniaux, éditions de l'Amateur, 2003
H. Havard, Les salons de 1907 - Revue de l'art ancien et moderne, p. 58 – 78
Description: Gustave Hierholtz
(Lausanne 1877 – 1954)
Design: 1912
Cast: between 1912 and 1918
Silver-plated bronze
The Jardinière features four sculpted Arab female figures of different ages and occupations. The central section consists of an oval, silver-plated basin with an openwork cover.
Gustave Hierholtz was born in Lausanne in 1877, although his parents were of French origin. He was a student of Raphaël Lugeon and subsequently worked in the studio of Auguste Rodin. He exhibited for the first time in 1904; in 1907, he received a medal at the Salon des artistes français. The "Abdel-el-Tif" Prize, which he won in 1912, enabled him to travel.
Between 1907 and 1912, and again in 1920, 1925, 1931–1932, 1937, and 1947–1948, he exhibited regularly at the Salon du Sculpteur.
In 1907, he gained widespread recognition for his exceptional work on a brooch, titled "Les fables de La Fontaine," in collaboration with the silversmith Pierre Falize.
He was a member of the Société des Peintres Orientalistes Français and participated in the 22nd exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris from February 8 to 28, 1914. He presented a wax design for a surtout de table entitled "Femmes Algérie" under catalog number 910.
Between 1919 and 1930, he was director of the vocational school in Hanoi.
(Lausanne 1877 – 1954)
Design: 1912
Cast: between 1912 and 1918
Silver-plated bronze
The Jardinière features four sculpted Arab female figures of different ages and occupations. The central section consists of an oval, silver-plated basin with an openwork cover.
Gustave Hierholtz was born in Lausanne in 1877, although his parents were of French origin. He was a student of Raphaël Lugeon and subsequently worked in the studio of Auguste Rodin. He exhibited for the first time in 1904; in 1907, he received a medal at the Salon des artistes français. The "Abdel-el-Tif" Prize, which he won in 1912, enabled him to travel.
Between 1907 and 1912, and again in 1920, 1925, 1931–1932, 1937, and 1947–1948, he exhibited regularly at the Salon du Sculpteur.
In 1907, he gained widespread recognition for his exceptional work on a brooch, titled "Les fables de La Fontaine," in collaboration with the silversmith Pierre Falize.
He was a member of the Société des Peintres Orientalistes Français and participated in the 22nd exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris from February 8 to 28, 1914. He presented a wax design for a surtout de table entitled "Femmes Algérie" under catalog number 910.
Between 1919 and 1930, he was director of the vocational school in Hanoi.
Gustave Hierholtz
Gustave Adolphe Hierholtz (1877–1948) was a Franco-Swiss sculptor best known for animalier bronzes and works shaped by travel between Paris, North Africa and Indochina. Born in Lausanne to French parents, he studied at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and later worked in Rodin’s studio. He exhibited from 1904 at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, then at the Salon des Artistes Français, receiving medals in 1907 and 1908 and becoming a member in 1909. Awarded the Abd-el-Tif prize in 1912, he spent time in Algeria before becoming director of the Hanoi Applied Art School from 1919 to 1930, where future modern Vietnamese artists encountered European sculptural training. His bronzes of elephants, bulls, buffalo and riders combine naturalistic weight with expressive modelling and colonial-era observation. Casts by Susse Frères, including Elephant Tearing Up a Stump, reveal his interest in force, movement and tactile surface.
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The four ages of Arab women