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Lot 223429:
Description
L’Cigale (The Cicada), by Auguste Moreau. This antique piece depicts a partially robed female figure with a guitar slung across her back. She looks pensively over her shoulder at the uncultivated shrubbery beneath her feet. 34 lbs.
Cicadas feature prominently in French folklore. According to Medieval tradition, God created the insects to keep farmworkers alert and diligent. Instead, their musical humming lulled them to sleep. Building off this association with laziness, the Cicada features as a character in the French version of Aesop’s ‘The Ant and the Grasshopper”, replacing he Grasshopper. In this fable, the Cicada plays music and wanders the countryside while the Ant works her fields and fills her storehouse. By the time winter comes, the Ant is well-fed and content while the Cicada starves. In the context of this story, the statue could be depicting the Cicada pensively anticipating a winter she is ill-prepared for. The popularity of these stories in the south of France led the Cicada to become the regional symbol of Provence in the 19th century.
The piece is signed by Auguste Moreau (1834-1917), the son of Jean-Baptiste Moreau. However, the plaque states that the piece was sculpted by Hippolyte Moreau, which either refers to Auguste’s brother (1832-1927) or his son. Given that the signature on the sculpture itself is Auguste’s, it is reasonable to attribute the piece to him. The Moreau family was prolific and renowned during the 19th century and set the standard for French Academic sculpture.
Size: 34.5 x 11 x 8.5″
Condition: Wear commensurate with age, the back of the base is broken, see pictures for more detail.
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