Ostrich Egg

ca. 1780

Clément Louis Marie Anne Le Bel French, died 1806

On View

Fashionable Living: Kanzler Room, Level 3, South Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Title Ostrich Egg

Artwork Date ca. 1780

Artist Clément Louis Marie Anne Le Bel

Life Dates died 1806

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. French

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Ostrich egg, gouache, gilt bronze

Dimensions Overall: 16 3/8 × 7 × 6 3/8 inches (41.6 × 17.8 × 16.2 cm)

Classification Furniture Accessories

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

Credit Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Benson Ford

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 60.62

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

George and Florence Blumenthal (New York, New York, USA)

George Blumenthal sale (Paris, France) lot 76

Mrs. D. Kilvert (New York, New York, USA)

(French & Co., New York, New York, USA)

Samuel H. Kress (New York, New York, USA)

sold by (Rosenberg and Stiebel, New York, New York, USA)

Mr. and Mrs. Benson Ford

1960-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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Published References

Bayer, P. "Unabashed Opulence: one hundred and fifty years of French Ormolu." Antiques World (January 1982): pp. 40-51 (ill.).

Rubinstein-Block, S. Collection of George and Florence Blumenthal. New York and Paris, 1926-1930, vol. 6, pl. LIX (ill.).

Catalogues des objets d'art et d'ameublement du XVIIIe siècle, tableaux anciens, dessins, gravures composant la...collection réunie dans son hôtel, à Paris, par m. George Blumenthal, et dont la première vente aux enchères publiques aura lieu. Sales cat., Galerie Georges Petit. Paris, December 1-2, 1932, no. 76 (ill.).

Grigault, P. "An Eighteenth Century Ostrich Egg." Bulletin of the DIA 39, nos. 3/4 (1959/60): pp. 85-87, p. 87 (ill.).

The Institute Collects. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1964, p. 22 (ill.).

Winokur, R. "An Ostrich Egg Painted by Le Bel and Mounted by Gouthiere." Bulletin of the DIA 55, no. 3 (1977): pp. 157-160, p. 158 (ill.).

Bock, S. Ova Struthionis: die Strausseneiobjekte in den Schatz-, Silber- und Kunstkammern Europas. Freiburg, 2005, mentioned under cat. no. 190.

Baarsen, Reinier. Paris 1650–1900: Decorative Arts in the Rijksmuseum. New Haven, 2013, p. 389.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Clément Louis Marie Anne Le Bel, Ostrich Egg, ca. 1780, ostrich egg, gouache, gilt bronze. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Benson Ford, 60.62.