Jeanne Hugues Royannez, Three-element Pendulum

Jeanne Hugues Royannez, 1855 - 1932. French sculptor. Three-piece clock mounted on a black and white veined marble base. Silver-patinated bronze, onyx base. France, 1925. Signed “Jeanne Hugues” on the left hind leg. Dimensions: 13.5 x 38 x 12.5 cm. Very good condition. Popular exotic motif that expresses the dynamism and gentleness of its movement. Jeanne Royannez, born in Paris, is the daughter of the republican publicist Adolphe Royannez. In 1871, she participated in the Marseille Commune, during which she met the socialist journalist Clovis Hugues (1851-1907), whom she married. The year of her marriage, Jeanne Royannez-Huges was insulted by a Bonapartist journalist, Désiré Mordant of the newspaper L'aiglon des Bouches-du-Rhône. Her husband then challenged her to a duel and killed him. He was acquitted in February 1878. Accused in 1882 by the Countess of Osmond-Lenormand of having seduced her husband, Jeanne Royannez-Hugues was slandered for two years by a detective, Jean Morin, on the Countess's orders, in order to harm her reputation and the political career of Clovis Hugues. Exasperated, Jeanne Royannez-Hugues shot Jean Morin three times inside the Paris courthouse and mortally wounded him. She was acquitted in January 1885. This story inspired an Italian play in 1885. Jeanne Hugues's life was brought to the screen by Gérard Oury in 1962, in Le crime ne paie pas. Michèle Morgan plays the role of Jeanne Royannez and Philippe Noiret that of Clovis Hugues. The sculpting career of Jeanne Royannez-Huges, a student of Laure Coutan-Montorgueil (1855-1914), began the following year with the first exhibitions in the Salons. She created several busts of her husband, Clovis Hugues, as well as "The Battle of the Ladies," which recounts the conduct of the women who saved the city of Marseille besieged by the Constable of Bourbon in 1524. The panther, the tiger, and other exotic animals were popular Art Deco motifs. The dynamism and softness of their movements perfectly matched the popular streamlined forms. French sculptor Jeanne Hugues-Royannez created this Chinese tiger around 1925. The tiger creeps in a characteristic pose on the heavily veined onyx base. A student of Laure Coutan, Jeanne Royannez was the daughter of the republican journalist Adolphe Royannez (1829-1894), director of L'Athée and La Voix du Peuple, member of the Marseille Commune, companion of Gaston Crémieux, proscribed in 1851. She married the socialist journalist Clovis Hugues, whom she met in Marseille in 1871, during the brief commune that inflamed the city. They married after his release from prison, on November 30, 1876, in Toulon.