DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-0

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-1

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-2

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-3

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-4

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-5

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-6

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-7

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-8

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-9

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-10

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-11

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-12

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-13

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-14

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-15

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-16

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-17

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-18

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-19

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century-20

Style Napoleon III / Ref.15502

DUCEL Foundry after Pierre LOISON, Young Girl with a Conch, middle of the 19th century

Dimensions:

Height: 50'' ⅜  128cm
Depth: 31'' ⅛  79cm
Diameter: 21'' ⅝  55cm

Origin:
France

Status:
As it stands

This statue, titled Young Girl with a Conch, was cast by the Ducel Foundry after a work by Pierre Loison in the mid-19th century.

The sculptor Pierre Loison (or Loyson) (1816-1886) began his career as an apprentice to a clog maker. Noticed for his talent, he was able to study sculpture in the studio of David d’Angers and at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He received numerous official commissions and exhibited in nearly every Salon from 1845 until 1886, the year of his death, as well as at the 1855 Universal Exhibition.

The Ducel Foundry was founded in 1800 in Touraine. It was successively managed by three generations of the Ducel family: Jacques, Jean-Jacques, and Jacques-Gustave. The company had a store in Paris and gained recognition by participating in various international exhibitions held in the second half of the 19^th century. It was purchased by the Val d’Osne Foundry in 1878.

This sculpture depicts a young girl seated on a rock by the water’s edge. She may represent a naiad, a deity associated with rivers and springs. Her posture conveys movement, as if she is about to enter the water: her face and torso lean forward, she holds onto the rock with her left hand, and in her right hand, she grasps a conch shell, which could emit a jet of water. A drapery covers her waist, and both legs extend toward the water.

The statue bears an inscription on the base indicating its origin: “JJ DUCEL / [illegible, probably Me Forges] PARIS”. Thus, the sculpture was cast in the mid-19^th century under the direction of Jean-Jacques Ducel (1810-1878).

The acquisition of the foundry by the Val d’Osne company ensured the continued distribution of Ducel’s models. As a result, after being featured in Ducel’s catalog around 1856, The Young Girl with a Conch was also included in the Val d’Osne catalog published in 1882.

The longevity and continued success of this model are also evident in the number of copies produced and found in both private and public spaces. For instance, a statue of this model can be admired in Montbéliard, at Francisco Ferrer Square, since 1862; at the Apollo, Oregon House, in the United States; and at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden.