Carrier-Belleuse, Albert-Ernest (1824-87; French)
Melody
Bronze, size unknown
Bequest of Alfred Felton, 1904; transferred to Castlemaine, 1943; de-accessioned from the Castlemaine collection and auctioned, 1987
Unidentified; present location unknown
This work, still in the Castlemaine collection in 1983 (when it was described as a gift from the NGV in 1943), was clearly identical with the bronze “figure” by Carrier-Belleuse acquired for Melbourne from Felton’s estate in 1904.
In 1987 it was then culled in turn from the Castlemaine collection and auctioned, together with * Flaminio La Puberta 1866 {1867} Priv.coll. [SC].
Several other bronze casts by Carrier-Belleuse, showing Melodie as a seated female figure holding a lyre, have appeared on the international art market recently (see comparative photo). One of these may even be identical with the bronze Felton owned.
[comparative photo: cast of Melodie auctioned in Berlin 2015]
Refs.
AR 1904, p.26 (bronze “figure” from Felton’s estate); not listed in NGV 1905
See now A Collection of Australian Art, Castlemaine Art Gallery, 1983, p.48 (details as listed; not illustrated). Many thanks to Dr Chris McAuliffe, a member of the Castlemaine Art Museum board, for advising on the history of this work and the 1987 auction, held at Sotheby’s on 29 June 1987; besides the works by Carrier-Belleuse and Flaminio, which fetched $6,000 and $4,200 respectively, a “large bronze figure of Mercury” (possibly another work previously in the Melbourne collection) was sold for $6,000. McAuliffe comments that, besides the logic of deaccessioning non-Australian works, the funds gleaned from this sale probably helped with funding a building extension at the time (email correspondence, August 2018)
For bronze casts apparently based on the same figure listed for sale recently, see https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/20401706_after-albert-ernest-carrier-belleuse-melody (30.75” high, inscribed “A.Carrier Belleuse, Hors. Concours”; with a good reproduction; auction date given as Oct.2013); and http://www.sothebys.com/content/sothebys/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2015/19th-20th-century-sculpture-l15232/lot.79.html (Sotheby’s, London, 16 Dec.2015, lot 79: as 31½” [80 cm] high, signed “A.Carrier Belleuse”; est.GB £6-8,000). See also http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/isa-auctionata-auktionen-ag/catalogue-id-srauctionat10168/lot-9e48ae85-e2a8-4eda-a8c8-a54d010eb77a (lot 203: as Melodie, by Carrier-Belleuse and Etienne Gaudez [base?], c.1870/80): example reproduced above