Edouard Marcel Sandoz (Swiss, 1881-1971) for the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres Leaping carp, also known as Marcurus dressé, c. 1934 in soft stoneware with patina. Signed on the terrace. Stamp of the Manufacture de Sèvres, marks of Michel Renault (stoneware molder from 1920 to 1928, then repair molder from 1928 to 1952) and Léon Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Blanchot (sculpture inspector from 1930 to 1947). Height 26.5 Width 21.7 Length 27.3 cm. Provenance: by family tradition, offered by President Albert Lebrun to one of his friends. Edouard Marcel Sandoz for the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, ca. 1934. A sandstone sculpture of a jumping carp also called "Upright Marcurus". Signed. Bibliography: Félix Marcilhac, "Sandoz sculpteur figuriste et animalier 1881-1971 - Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre sculpté", Les éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, 1993, model referenced under n°MNS. 9-1934/1 and reproduced on p. 538. From 1921 onwards, the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres renewed its image by teaming up with various artists, notably Marcel Sandoz, who supplied several porcelain cookies. Three further contracts for new models were signed in 1929, 1934 and 1957. The artist had just returned from a stay at the Oceanographic Institute in Monaco when he produced this Japanese-influenced carp, shown at the moment of its leap. In Asian tradition, this is when the carp transforms into a dragon, son of Heaven, as it swims up the sacred river. In Chinese, the root of the word carp, Koi, also corresponds to that of the word love, which it symbolizes in the arts. The model's success led to the production of several bronzes, including one that won a prize at the 1939 New York World's Fair.