Émile Guillemin (1841-1907), "Profile of an Oriental Woman in Bronze with Patina and Enamels" Gilt and patinated bronze, enamels, and wooden frame, 66x60 cm. Period: Second half of the 19th century. The profile of the Oriental woman, in bronze with dark and polychrome patina, is an Orientalist masterpiece by the sculptor Émile Guillemin. The portrait of an Oriental woman, a rare subject in this artist's production, is embellished with a rich headdress, jewels, and coral beads. The frame is enriched with gemstone cabochons. His work, in terms of executive quality and subject choice, fully reflects the Orientalist taste of his era. The oval composition on a decorated background, embellished with gilded bronze applications, was a very popular decorative format for luxury furnishings of the 19th century. The bronze is worked in relief and patinated with different shades. The headdress is certainly the most significant and richly decorated part. Probably inspired by Asian-Oriental headdresses, such as the Turkmen telpek or the Russian kokoshnik, it also calls to mind the tiaras worn by Byzantine sovereigns in the mosaics of San Vitale in Ravenna, typical of Orthodox iconography. Underneath the headdress, the woman wears a Middle Eastern or North African-derived turban, such as the hijab or khimar. The Orientalist subject is enriched by the presence of the large hoop earring, a common element in non-European jewelry and a distinctive iconographic symbol. In fact, European women used to wear smaller earrings or drop earrings. Biography Émile Guillemin (Émile-Coriolan Hippolyte Guillemin) was a sculptor of the Belle Époque known for his bronze works and Orientalist subjects, active mainly in the second half of the 19th century. He studied under the direction of his father, the painter Auguste Guillemin, and Jean-Jules Salmson, a French sculptor and medalist of Swedish descent, appointed director of the School of Industrial Arts in Geneva in 1876. Guillemin exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon from 1870 to 1899, also receiving an honorable mention in 1897. Émile should be counted among the great exponents of French Orientalism; his masterpieces that show a deep interest in Asian and Middle Eastern cultures are particularly well-known and appreciated for the high level of detail and the fineness of the bronze chasing. Guillemin was a sculptor attentive to details, the rendering of materials, the customs and ethnographic characteristics of the people he portrayed; to give visual richness to his sculptures, he often chose to use polychrome bronze, decorated with different patinas and combinations of materials (marble, hard stones for cabochons).