Dragon Terracotta Bust 17th Carcassonne Dragoon Regiment Dated 1892

Victorien Antoine Bastet, born January 17, 1852 in Bollène (Vaucluse) and died in the same city on March 5, 1905, is a French sculptor. He attended the Avignon School of Fine Arts in 1871. Having obtained a scholarship, he went to Paris to be admitted to the School of Fine Arts. He carried out his military service in Béziers where he met a rich merchant, Joseph Vallarino, who would be his patron. Béziers wine merchant. He introduced it to notables from Perpignan, Castres, Pézenas and Béziers, who would form a loyal clientele. Among her, two fans of her works: the senator of the Pyrénées Orientales, Jules Pams and the manufacturer Justin Bardou, who makes Job cigarette papers. The local press supports the sculptor-soldier as well as the municipality. Bastet shows his gratitude to them through works, such as the bas-relief of the “First Sin”, or the genre scene of the “Wounded Soldier”, which he offers to those who support him. He bequeathed to this cultured city, the pretty terracotta bust of “Sleeping Child”, gold medalist at the Marseille Fine Arts exhibition in 1879. Victorien is a discreet, introverted artist, who prefers the solitude of his workshop and his readings to social events. He refuses visits from journalists because he fears being misunderstood. Since sending a sculpture called “Narcissus” in 1879, which he presented during his service, he has, each year, offered his most beautiful works at the Salon des Artistes Français. In 1886, he won a second class medal there, the essential place for promoting sculptors, and took the title of master. With “Abandoned” which inducted him that year and classified him out of competition. He became a member of the jury, alongside the biggest names in sculpture: Rodin, Carpaux, Dalou. In 1901, he was named a permanent member of the Society of French Artists; the Paris City Hall commissioned two marble works from him: “Eve” and “Manon”. In 1903, the State ordered three busts of personalities, those of Pierre Parocel, Michel de Bourges and Georges-Louis Duvernoy. Victorien is 47 years old, he contracted bronchitis, which is combined with chronic overwork. His weakened body and his extreme thinness make him vulnerable. He suffered from hemiplegia in 1902, following cerebral congestion. He died on March 5, 1905, at the age of 52. Jules Belleudy, writer, journalist and prefect, wrote: “If his limbs were paralyzed, his brain remained intact and he was able to see men who have the reputation, in the world, of being Patrons, coming to bargain for works and take advantage of his agony to take them away at a low price. He fell prey to the Thénardiers of art. A street in Bollène bears his name and this town has erected a memorial monument to him.” Sign Bastet 1892