AFTER CARPEAUX, SÈVRES TERRACOTTA FIGURE EVE AFTER THE FALL / ÈVE APRÈS LA FAUTE DATED 1927 with impressed and incised maker s marks SEVRES/ S 1927 DN/ MADE IN FRANCE/ E. R. (36cm high) Note: This piece is based on an 1871 composition by the French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (b.1827, Valenciennes, d. 1875, Courbevoie). Carpeaux was one of the most influential sculptors of the 19th century, both through his work and his teaching. He studied at the Petite Ecole and the Ecole de Beaux-Arts (1844-54), winning the Grand Prix de Rome in 1854. After the fall of Napoleon III in 1870 Carpeaux fled briefly to London, in search of new patrons, and it was during this period in 1871 that he produced ‘Eve After the Fall’. Carpeaux produced statuettes including female nude models, which displayed the eroticism which was present in much French sculpture of the period and is clearly evident in ‘Eve After the Fall’. In 1866 Carpeaux established his own atelier in which his work could be easily reproduced and reach a wider audience, particularly as pieces with an erotic tone, though controversial in public commissions, were widely acceptable in private collections. Sèvres made later reproductions of Carpeaux’s work, including examples of ‘Eve After the Fall’ in both terracotta and biscuit porcelain.