Fayral

"FAYRAL" PIERRE LE FAGUAYS (France, 1892 - 1962).
"Ballerina holding a tirso between her shoulders", Art Deco, ca. 1930.
Gilt and patinated bronze.
Signed.
Bibliography: Bryan Catley, Art Deco and Other Figures, Second Edition, Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge, 2003, p. 206, (example of this model illustrated).
Measurements: 55.5 x 50 x 9 cm.

Pierre Le Faguays was a versatile and prolific French sculptor, creator of Art Deco and avant-garde pieces, mainly active in the 1920s and 1930s, until his death in 1962. Especially known are his dancers and young nymphs or girls, with expressive faces and attitudes and movements full of grace and delicacy. He made his works known at the Paris Salon from 1922, where he was awarded a medal of honor in 1927. He specialized in small sculptures in bronze, wood, stone and bronze. He was a great friend of Max Le Verrier, in whose bronze foundry he made most of his models. He used two pseudonyms, "Fayral" and "Guerbe", the names of his wife and mother, respectively. Le Faguays enjoyed popularity in his time thanks to the originality of his dancers, many of which were inspired by the statues of Tanagra (Greece).