Chimene

Chimène belongs to Corneille's Le Cid, to that Spain of horsemen where honour is settled on horseback. The sconce borrows its equestrian vocabulary: two slender bronze rods, tapered to a point like two swords, carry open-worked lozenges and movable rings, joined low by a crossbar from which the motif hangs like a bit held in suspense. Verticals and horizontals balance to perfection, a poise that earned the piece its place on the poster for the Mougins exhibitions. The gilded casting lets the grain of the hand-worked metal surface. Above, a rectangular screen of airy silk gathers the light: raised to the point of the swords, it escapes top and bottom, and the harness motif reads against the light.