Émile Guillemin was a celebrated 19th-century French sculptor whose Victorian-era masterpieces showed a deep love and appreciation for Asian and Middle Eastern cultures. He worked with the esteemed Barbedienne Foundry to create bronze figurative sculptures of exquisite detail. He also made statuesque bronze floor lamps and glinting silver centerpieces that retain their luster and charm to this day.
Guillemin was born in Paris in 1841. His father was sculptor Auguste Guillemin, who worked for aristocrats producing copies of ancient busts. Guillemin studied under his father and under sculptor Jean-Jules Salmson. He first exhibited his work at the Paris Salon of 1870 with two statues of Roman gladiators and continued showing his work at Paris Salons over the next three decades.
Although Guillemin was a prolific sculptor with a wide-ranging repertoire, he is most known for his Orientalist-style pieces, a term denoting the exoticization of Asian and Middle Eastern art in the West. What made Guillemin's work stand out was the great sensitivity and care he put into depicting his subjects in an accurate manner. From Japanese courtesans to Indian falconers, his subjects don accurate re-creations of the clothing, hairstyles and accouterments of their cultures.
Today, Guillemin's pieces remain in high demand. In 2008, a pair of busts he crafted in 1884, called Femme Kabyle d'Algerie and Janissaire du Sultan Mahmoud II, sold at auction for more than $1 million.
On 1stDibs, find Émile Guillemin sculptures, lighting and tableware.
Lifesize Orientalist Bronze Bust 'Janissaire du Sultan Mahmoud II'
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
Émile-Coriolan-Hippolyte Guillemin (French, 1841-1907) A Lifesize Patinated-Bronze Bust Of A Warrior, Entitled ‘Janissaire du Sultan Mahmoud II’ (‘Guardsman to Sultan Mahmud II’). W...
Bronze
A Lifesize Marble Bust of the Capuan Venus By Gaetano Rossi, After The Antique
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A Life-size White Marble Bust of the Capuan Venus By Gaetano Rossi After The Antique, On Pedestal. On a green scagliola and marble pedestal. Signed and dated ‘G.NO Rossi, 1876’. D...
Statuary Marble
Patinated Bronze Busts, French Antique Sculptures, Circa 1870, Pair
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A pair of patinated bronze busts. French, circa 1870.
Bronze
Bronze Figure of 'La Nature Se Dévoilant Devant La Science'
By Louis Ernest Barrias
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
Bronze figure of 'La Nature se dévoilant devant la Science' by Louis-Ernest Barrias. Inscribed 'E. Barrias' and with Susse Frères foundry cachet and further Susse inscription. Thi...
Bronze
'La Nature se dévoilant devant la Science' by Louis-Ernest Barrias
By Louis Ernest Barrias
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A Bronze Figure of 'La Nature se dévoilant devant la Science' by Louis-Ernest Barrias. Inscribed 'E. Barrias' and with Susse Frères foundry cachet and further Susse inscription. S...
Bronze
An Orientalist Lifesize Figural Bronze Statue, Attributed to Louis Hottot
By Louis Hottot
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
An Orientalist Lifesize Figural Bronze Statue, Attributed to Louis Hottot (French, 1834-1906). Modelled as a lady in Ottoman dress standing beneath an Eastern style pagoda with minaret. Depicting as if answering a call and stepping forward in greeting. France, Circa 1890. This impressive figural group is a rare work in bronze attributed to the Orientalist sculptor Louis Hottot whose oeuvre is more readily associated with what was called ‘bronze imitation’, referring to sculpture in white-metal or, as it is known today, spelter. That this large statue is cast from superior and costly bronze is indicative of its rarity and importance. The Orientalist subject relates to paintings by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904), Ludwig Deutsch (1855–1935) Gustav Bauernfeind...
Bronze
Antique Bronze Bust of a Provincial French Woman C. 1882 by Émile Guillemin
By Émile Guillemin 1
Located in New York, NY
By Émile-Coriolan-Hippolyte Guillemin (French, 1841-1907) A lively bust of a young french woman; dynamically sculpted with an adorable upturned smile and glimmering eyes, in a chemi...
Marble, Bronze
Antique French Orientalist Bust Sculpture of a Courtesan After Clement Steiner
Located in New York, NY
Patinated spelter metal bust of a beautiful Middle Eastern courtesan after the original model by the French master, Clement Leopold Steiner (1853-1899), measuring 25 1/2 by 16 by 11 ...
Spelter
Cast Bronze Woman Bust "Bohême Orientale" Signed R. Colombo, Paris, 1884
By Renzo Colombo
Located in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Cast bronze woman bust "Bohême Orientale" signed R. Colombo, Paris, 1884. (Renzo Colombo 1856-1885). Bronze plaque at front "Bohême Orientale par Colombo".
Bronze
19th-20th Century Orientalist Terracotta Bust of Girl Attributed to Goldscheider
By Goldscheider Manufactory of Vienna
Located in Los Angeles, CA
An Austrian 19th-20th century Orientalist terracotta bust of a young girl in Middle-Eastern Garb. The young smiling beauty wearing a head scaft and shawl tied with a broche-pin brooch pin and jewlry around her neck, raised on a circular ebonized wood stand. Probably by Friedrich Goldscheider (Goldscheider'sche Porzellan-Manufactur und Majolica-Fabrik) - The backside stamped: "T - No. 258". circa 1900. The Goldscheider Manufactory and Majolica Factory (German: Goldscheider'sche Porzellan-Manufactur und Majolica-Fabrik, (now) Goldscheider Keramik) is an Austrian ceramic manufactory. In 1885, Friedrich Goldscheider came from the small Bohemian city of Pilsen to Vienna and founded the Goldscheider Manufactory and Majolica Factory. It became one of the most influential ceramic manufactories of terracotta, faience and bronze objects in Austria with subsidiaries in Paris, Leipzig and Florence. For over half a century Goldscheider created masterpieces of historical revivalism, Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) and Art Deco. Famous artists such as Josef Lorenzl, Stefan Dakon, Ida Meisinger and the two perhaps best known Austrian ceramic artists Michael Powolny and Vally Wieselthier worked for Goldscheider. Several of the artists who worked for Goldscheider also worked for other Viennese studios, such as Augarten, Keramos or for the German brands Rosenthal and Meissen. The Goldscheider family emigrated in 1938 to United Kingdom and USA. Walter Goldscheider startet a new factory in Trenton, New Jersey and returned to Vienna in 1950. Marcel Goldscheider went to Stoke-on-Trent and produced figurative ceramics for Myott and opened his own studio in the 1950s in Hanley. Both brothers died in the early 1960s. More than 10,000 different models were created over a period of three generations. Since the very beginning many of these won first prizes and gold medals at innumerable world fairs, exhibitions and trade fairs. Goldscheider figures...
Terracotta, Wood
A Fine Etienne Gaudez Polychrome-Patinated Bronze Orientalist Bust
Located in New York, NY
A Fine Quality Polychrome-Patinated Bronze Bust of an Orientalist Princess. The Princess wears a luxurious gold and silver brocade vest, with patinas that skillfully imitate gold an...
Bronze
Late 19th Century Art Nouveau Bust Entitled "Lola" by Emmanuel Villanis
By Emmanuel Villanis
Located in London, GB
Stunning Art Nouveau bronze bust depicting the character "Lola" modelled in the midst of an inquisitive look. The study has a multi hued patination of colours that accentuate the very fine hand chased surface detail. Signed ?E Villanis...
Bronze
