It's Mardi Gras! Fat Tuesday! And, NO, I am not implying that these buxom beauties are fat! On the contrary, they represent the artistically-idealized female figure for most of the last four thousand years. These "Satyresses" (female Satyrs) convey the (extreme) Bacchanalian character of the last day before Lent. In Catholic households, Mardi Gras is the opportunity to eat-up and get rid of all meat, fats, sweets, alcohol and other gustatory indulgences before the proscribed Lenten abstemiousness begins the next day (Ash Wednesday).
Satyrs (and Satyresses) were known for loving music, food and wine—not to mention, the engagement of the flesh. They often attend to (or party around) Bacchus, the Roman god of agriculture, wine and fertility. These bookends, made of cast terra-cotta in the 1910's or 1920's, portray a female satyr luxuriating against a lush wall of fruited flora. They are signed with the sculptor's name, J. Descamps, and bear the shopmark of the ceramics studio, Louis Lourioux, where they were crafted. Click on the photo above to learn more about them.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Pittsburgh's historic "Strip District" at Mahla & Co. Antiques (www.mahlaantiques.com) or in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248