Charles Rene de Saint-Marceaux (French, 1845-1915) A patinated bronze figure of a HarlequinCharles Rene de Saint-Marceaux (French, 1845-1915): A patinated bronze figure of a Harlequin the standing masked figure clad in his Commedia dell'arte costume with crossed arms, on faux wooden boarded stage base, signed and dated Saint-Marceaux 1879 and with Reduction Mecanique, A Collas, Breveil pastille, the rear inscribed F. BARBEDIENNE, Fondeur, Paris and numbered 125, now lacking slapstick, 51cm high René de Saint-Marceaux was the son of a Reims wine merchant. He entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris under the tutelage of Jouffroy, exhibiting at the Salon of 1868, studying later in Italy. Considerable success followed, and he was awarded gold medals at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889, having been elected as a Chevalier to the Legion d'Honneur in 1880, and later becoming an officer. His public Parisian works may be seen in the Champs-Elysees (Alphonse Daudet the noted novelist) and Alexander Dumas fils, in Montmartre and the Louvre. This Harlequin figure can be seen in Reims Museum, and Bucharest Arts Museum.Literature:Benezit, E. Dictionnaire Critique & Documentaire Des Peintres Sculpteurs Dessinateurs & Graveurs 14 Volumes. France: Grund/Hilmarton Manor Press, 2006, Vol XII.Berman, Harold. Bronzes, Sculptors and Founders 1800-1930, 3 Volumes. Chicago [Ill.]: Abage, 1977. Vol II, p. 333.