French vintage cast bronze hand sculpture by Richard Hudnut for Montagutelli Frères, 1912

For sale a magnificent early 20th Century bronze sculpture, cast using the Lost Wax (in French, 'Cire Perdue') process. This fine sculpture is a cast of Richard Alexander Hudnut's hand and was produced by the renowned Montagutelli Frères foundry in Paris in 1912. The sculpture is in very good vintage condition, signed "Richard Alexander Hudnut 1912" and carries the oval "Montagutelli Freres Paris Cire Perdue" foundry stamp to the underside. Richard Alexander Hudnut (1856-1928) was an American businessman recognised as being the first American to achieve international success in cosmetics manufacturing. After graduating from Princeton University, he toured France and returned with the idea of introducing French-style perfumes and cosmetics to American women. The Richard Hudnut company once maintained separate US and European headquarters on Fifth Avenue in New York City and on the Rue de la Paix in Paris, respectively. Although his fortune had been built around cosmetics and beauty products, he preferred to be known as a "perfumer". (Wikipedia) Montagutelli Frères were famed at the time, for having been one of the few Parisian foundries capable of producing bronze casts using the demanding lost-wax casting technique, and briefly produced busts & statuettes for Auguste Rodin around this exact period (1912-13). Run by two brothers, this firm cast all three of the only lost-wax pieces by Rodin in the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) London collection and many others that are now included in private collections and major art institutions, such as the Rodin Museum in Paris and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA. The practice of life casting was popular in bourgeois circles, and was popular with artists, political, literary or society figures. Reference : 255309