L'Oiseau Mort

Joseph-Charles Marin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marin is best known for his terracottas in the manner of Clodion, but the attribution to him of this marble statuette, if by no means certain, is not unreasonable. It is a rarity to find the species of the marble statuette with its atendant sentimental imagery, perfected by Falconet, carried forward to the period around 1800—roughly the time of this composition. By this date, bronze and terracotta were preferred. In any event, the maiden's chaste, unfussy pose is nicely offset by the complicated tresses favored during the Consulate (1799–1804).

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art