Style Neo-gothic / Ref.10510

Alfred de NIEUWERKERKE (1811-1892) - Death of His Lordship the Duke of Clarence, Design of 1838, Mantel clock and pair of candelabras in silvered bronze

This scene of a battle in 15th century, The Duke of Clarence’s Combat, was sculpted in 1838 by young Count Alfred Emile de Nieuwerkerke (1811-1892), aged 27 then. Emile de Nieuwerkerke is better known for being General Director of the Museums from 1849, and undoubtedly the most influential man on french cultural policy until the end of the Empire.

In reality, Nieuwerkerke’s fervor towards arts begins at the age of 23, when he feels passionate about sculpture and takes classes with the master James Pradier. His network provides him the opportunities of official orders, the portraits of the Empress Eugenie and of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte in particular. The Count de Nieuwerkerke is precisely distinguished with the exhibition of the Death of His Lordship the Duke of Clarence, for the mastering of his group’s dynamism and equilibrium. One of his most famous works, this is the piece of art that truly launched his career.

In the midst of the Romantic vogue, the art world admires this Troubadour work of art that is telling us a tale of the Hundred Years’ War. The young Nieuwerkeke collects armors and weapons, and has read a medieval chronicle in order to realize this work, possibly the Chronicle of Anjou and of Maine, by Jehan de Bourdigné (1547). He adapts the text, finely chiseled on his sculpture’s base, preserving the picturesque charm of old french :

“ come le dict Duc eut entendu l’assemblée des dicts François au lieu de Beaugé et qu’ils se tenoient/ sur leur pas déliberez de le combattre il qui étoit assys au disner se leva incontinent comme tout/ couroucé a leur aller courir sus n’y pensant etre a heure si se mit a la voye a grant Baronie sans voul/ oir aucun gens de pied a faire la détrousse ainsi come il cuydoit mais autrement il en alla come verez/ A l’aborder des Francois fut le dict Duc Thomas le premier que dérangea de la part des Anglois / et contre lui s’adressa Messire Garin Seigneur de Fontaine un moult bon Chevalier du/ pays d’Amon et de grande impétuosité porta le dict Duc de Clarence a terre qui/ oncques puis n’en revela. Et des Anglais y mourut force gens de bien./ Fut icelle déconfiture en l’an de notre Seigneur que l’on disoit M.C.C.C.C.X.X./ et moult fut dolente aux Anglois et gros réconfort a Monseigneur le Dauphin ”

This text could be translated as follows : “As the Duke was sitting at dinner, he heard that the french troops were in Baugé and that they were deliberately ready to fight. He suddenly arose, decided to go and confront them as fast as possible. Fearing to be delayed if he leaded warriors, wanting no foot soldier to properly sack the bodies, he went. The aforesaid Duke Thomas was the first Englishman to launch an attack on the French, and against him rushed Messire Garin forward, Lord of Fontaine, a very good knight from the lands of Amon, of great impetuosity. He threw the Duke of Clarence to the ground, and the latter never rose. On the English side many brave fell in this battle. Such was the defeat of the year of Our Lord 1420, which was very painful to the English and a huge comfort to His Royal Highness the Dauphin.”

The Duke of Clarence, named Thomas of Lancaster, is no less than the son of Henri IV, King of England. He can be recognized by the crown on his helmet, and by the House Lancaster’s coat of arms that Nieuwerkerke finely chiseled on the horse’s adornment. His lance broke and half of it lies down. His horse is rearing and his legs already took off the saddle : just about to be unhorsed. Thomas of Lancaster had come offering his support to his brother to conquer Normandy between 1471 and 1419, and had then kept marching on Anjou, in order to take back the lands of his ancestor Geoffrey of Anjou. In 1421, he is caught in an ambush by the troops of Charles VII, the Crown of France’s dauphin, and would have been killed by Knight Garin de Fontaine. Garin de Fontaine sports here the lions of Anjou on his shield, and provides with his body the diagonal and dynamical line giving such energy to this sculpture. His horse seems hung in thin air, Nieuwerkerke managed to hide the support spots from sight to create an aerial equilibrium.

Nieuwerkeke is particularly attentive to the heraldry. The base displays the Lancaster shield, coat of arms of the Royal House of England, “gules, three lions passants guardants or”, which were first those of Richard the Lionheart. On the other hand, Garin de Fontaine’s coat of arms are unknown, and Nieuwerkeke gives him the three crowned lions of Anjou, which is the region where the battle takes place. The matching of lions of Anjou and of England must be a historical wink which illustrates the sculptor’s passion for the Middle Ages, since he probably knew that Geoffrey of Anjou was the Kings of England’s ancestor.

Displayed for the first time in 1838, this work of art enters in no time, as soon as 1839, the catalog of the oldest art foundry in Paris, Susse Foundry. Nieuwerkerke is then the first sculptor to put his signature on his bronzes’ casts, which is a true innovation. Causing a great stir, the foundry casts this piece until 1875. Little variants are known in later editions, the 1858 cast in particular, where the Duke doesn’t bear a crown.
The group we present here displays characters smelted after the 1838 design, several editions of which are preserved by the greatest museums, including The Royal Collection of Osborn House, The Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam, and the Chateau of Blois in France.

The Susse Foundry used to offer simple bases and clock bases for the art bronzes in its catalog, as well as matching candelabras to be sold apart. Here, we have a clock and two candelabras, all originals of the Susse Foundry, which designs were displayed in the catalog.
The base provides indeed a clock and a decoration of trefoil lancet arches and foliage evoking Gothic architecture. The statue Nieuwerkerke displayed in 1838 was set on a clock-less base engraved with half of the text on each side ; here, he adapted it to be written entirely left and right of the clock face.

The two candelabras, at last, are designs by Charles Edouard of Beaumont, a sculptor who was passionate about the Middle Ages, and who left his medieval artifacts collection to the Cluny National Museum of the Middle Ages. Though de Beaumont is better known as a watercolorist and an illustrator, – he notably illustrated The Hunchback of Notre-Dame edition of 1844 – the Susse Foundry catalog used to propose several models signed by his hand.

Dimensions of the central group : 21 1/2’’ x 26’’ x 8 1/3’’
Dimensions of the candelabras : 29 1/2’’ x 9 1/2’’ x 9 1/2’’