Rare French Bronze Sculpture “Crested Duck” by Henri Alfred Jacquemart

Henri Alfred Marie Jacquemar, often known as Alfred Jacquemart, was a noted French sculptor and animalier. He usually signed his works, A. Jacquemart. Jacquemart was born on February 24, 1824, in Paris. He studied under painter Paul Delaroche and sculptor Jean-Baptiste-Jules Klagmann. He entered the École des Beaux-Arts in 1845. Jacquemart exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1847–79, receiving medals in 1857, 1863 and 1865. Jacquemart traveled to Egypt and Turkey, gaining the styles of these two Moslem cultures. He was commissioned by the city of Alexandria, Egypt, to do the colossal statue of Mehemet Ali but, he earned his reputation as a sculptor from his many monuments in France. Like Isidore Bonheur, he provided several of his models to the Christofle Goldsmith Shop, and these were cast in both solid silver and silver over bronze. He sculpted in large, medium and small scale. Many of his works were cast in bronze by the Val d'Osne foundry and some by the silversmith Christofle. Ultimately, however, he earned his reputation for his many larger animal works. In 1870 Jacquemart became a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur. Jacquemart died suddenly at his apartment in the Rue de Babylone, Paris, on the night of January 4, 1896. His funeral was delayed until 13 January for the arrival of his son, Maurice, who lived in Tunis and was held at the Église Saint Thomas d'Aquin, Paris.