Magnificent Art Deco sculpture of Athena, the Goddess of War and Wisdom portrayed as a warrior on horseback. The sculpture is finished in patina green with gold embellishment. She stands on a layered stone and wooden base. Every detail of the warrior goddess and her clothing, helmet and weaponry is stylized and striking. It combines elements of classic Greek sculpture with art deco “zig zag” embellishment.
This piece is by the French sculptor Jean Lemoine who worked with the Leverrier Foundry and used several pseudonyms. He used the name Melo for some of his equestrian themes, as well as the name Lemo for a series of men-on horseback themes. .He also created sculptures such as the well known “Bacchanale” with yet another name, Janle.
Despite all these names used by Lemoine, there is no signature on this piece as it was signed in the original base which was too damaged to retain, so we had one created to emulate the style of the original base. We previously sold another rendition of this same sculpture . This statue is from the 1920s, the base newly made.
The use of pseudonyms was very common in the Art Deco Era. Some pieces were created for a specific market or distributor, but sometimes a scullptor wished to sell his or her work independently of a foundry or exporter with which there was an exclusive contract, .In some cases we have learned that it may have been a woman (the wife) associated with a more famous sculptor . It certainly makes for interesting research to learn of this!
Images of women in helmets, riding horseback wielding spears and arrows remind us that glorifying the female form as well as her power is not something that began in this century, but rather the last one! What is interesting about Athena is that she is not only the Goddess of war and battle strategy, but also wisdom, intelligence, reason, art, literature, craft and agriculture. What an amazing combination!
We only wish we could have a leader in our lifetime that could embody all of those aspects!
5 Star Reviews 
