149 - Charles Auguste ARNAUD (1825–1883)

Charles Auguste ARNAUD (1825–1883) Circular medallion in hard-paste porcelain, glazed with a grand feu decoration in shades of blue accented with gold, featuring a profile portrait of the French painter Charles DONZEL (1824–1889) with the inscription “CAROLVS DONZELVS,” dated 1865, monogrammed “AA” for Auguste ARNAUD and located in LESPINASSE Presented in a molded wooden frame Diameter: 11 cm Born in La Rochelle in 1825, Arnaud trained in Angers and then in Paris, in the studio of the sculptor François Rude. He exhibited regularly at the Salon from 1846 to 1865. He is best known for his statues *The Hunter on Foot* and *The Artilleryman*, created for the Alma Bridge in Paris in 1856–1857, as well as for his busts of notable figures. He died in 1883. Charles-Auguste Arnaud, a 19th-century French sculptor, is associated with the history of Limoges porcelain through his work *L’Automne*, created in hard-paste porcelain in 1865 by the Ardant Manufactory and now housed at the Adrien Dubouché National Museum in Limoges (inv. ADL 3683) Charles Donzel’s attachment to Limoges can be explained in part by his relationship with Adrien Dubouché, a collector and prominent figure in Limoges’s artistic life, who introduced him to local artistic circles. Donzel was interested in the region’s landscapes, particularly the valleys of the Creuse River and its tributaries, whose rivers, rocks, and rural scenery he depicted. His stays in Crozant contributed to the emergence of what would become the Crozant School, a major center for plein air landscape painting. Another key connection to the city was his work as a porcelain painter for the Pouyat factory. He created landscape designs, as evidenced by a plate titled “Landscape by the Water,” held at the Adrien Dubouché National Museum in Limoges and dated 1879 (inv. ADL 4643).