Rugby Player Statuette, 1924 Paris Olympic Games
1924. Painted plaster statuette, signed “Coffin” in plaster to base, artist, date and text engraved in metal plaque attached to front of base, 25 x 7.5 x 7.7cm. Slight surface loss to paint, some with retouching, otherwise in good condition. Rare, Olympic Rugby Union figurine. Text reads “VIIIme Olympiade, Paris 1924. Le Rugby. Par [Fernand] Coffin.” Rugby was included in the 1900, 1908, 1920, and 1924 Olympic Games where the United States won the gold medal, beating France in an upset in front of a “partisan” crowd. It was dropped from the Olympics when its supporter, Barron Pierre de Coubertin “the father of modern Olympic Games”, was replaced as president of the International Olympic Committee in 1925 by Count Baillet-Latour. Rugby returned to the Olympic programme 92 years later at Rio in 2016. Information is scarce about French sculptor Fernand Coffin who died in Paris in June 1946. Known mostly for his sporting figurines made for the 1924 Paris Olympics, his sculpture included car mascots, home furnishings (lamps, bookends) and busts of notables such as Swedish Olympic wrestler Ivar Johansson (1903–1979) and General Joseph Joffre (1852–1931), commander in chief of the French armies on the Western Front in WWI, who won fame as “the Victor of the Marne.” Ref: Benezit; flickr.com; Britannica; Wiki; Onsenat; Maris-Saint Germaine; Thierry de Maigret.
Item #CL208-28
Price (AUD): $2,200.00 other currencies