Pair of Sculpted Wood and Chiselled Brass Herons

This pair of sculpted wading birds — their forms suggesting the heron in characteristic repose — demonstrates the accomplished French decorative sculptors’ art of the early 1970s in combining natural and worked materials to memorable effect. The rounded, full-bodied torsos are fashioned from richly-grained reddish-brown wood, polished to a warm lustre, while the heads, elongated necks, pointed beaks, and delicate multi-toed feet are cast and hand-chiselled in brass.

Standing approximately 41 centimetres tall, the two birds are posed at slightly different angles, introducing a naturalistic dynamism that prevents any sense of rigid symmetry. One appears to crane its neck forward with intent curiosity; the other holds itself more upright, composing a gentle visual counterpoint. Such studied variation in a pair speaks to the confidence of a skilled hand.

The combination of wood and metal in decorative bird sculpture has a long history in French and Italian craft, and this pair belongs to its most refined tradition — one that draws on the naturalist prints of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries while translating their subject matter into fully three-dimensional form. The warm reddish-brown of the wood against the golden tone of the patinated brass creates a palette of natural harmonies.

An exceptional pair for a mantelpiece, console, or bookcase, equally at home in an Art Deco interior or a more contemporary setting that welcomes organic sculptural form.