Fantastic Inkwell (Self-Portrait as a Sphinx)
Sarah Bernhardt
(French, 1844–1923)
1880
Medium/TechniqueBronze
DimensionsOverall (without base): 31.8 x 34.9 x 31.8 cm (12 1/2 x 13 3/4 x 12 1/2 in.)
Credit LineHelen and Alice Colburn Fund
Accession number1973.551a-d
On View
On viewClassificationsSculpture
Collections
Celebrated actress Sarah Bernhardt was also a gifted sculptor, and this bronze inkwell is a self‑portrait. She represents herself as a sphinx, with the body of a griffon, wings of a bat, and tail of a fish—a metaphor for her ability to transform herself, both on stage and off. Theatrical masks of Tragedy and Comedy adorn her shoulders like epaulettes, further highlighting her identity as a performer. The fantastic combination of natural forms reflects late 19th-century Symbolism and Art Nouveau and references the imagery and techniques of 16th-century Mannerist bronzes. When touring abroad, she sometimes exhibited a cast of this self-portrait in cities where she was performing.
InscriptionsMarked: Sarah Bernhardt on right base; 1880 on right base. Founder Mark: THIEBAUT FRERES/FONDEURS/PARISProvenance1880, possibly with the artist and exhibited at the Union League Club, New York [see note 1]. 1973, Shepherd Gallery, New York [see note 2]; 1973, sold by the Shepherd Gallery to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 14, 1973)
NOTES:
[1] As suggested by Judith Applegate, MFA Bulletin 73, no. 369 (1975): 37, the MFA inkwell may be the third cast made, exhibited in New York in 1880. See "Sarah Bernhardt Souvenir, Including The Authorized Catalogue of Her Paintings and Sculpture" (New York, 1880), cat. no. 18. [2] In a letter to the MFA (October 9, 1973), Shepherd Gallery indicated that the inkwell was purchased "from an importer on Long Island who gave us no significant provenance on the piece."
NOTES:
[1] As suggested by Judith Applegate, MFA Bulletin 73, no. 369 (1975): 37, the MFA inkwell may be the third cast made, exhibited in New York in 1880. See "Sarah Bernhardt Souvenir, Including The Authorized Catalogue of Her Paintings and Sculpture" (New York, 1880), cat. no. 18. [2] In a letter to the MFA (October 9, 1973), Shepherd Gallery indicated that the inkwell was purchased "from an importer on Long Island who gave us no significant provenance on the piece."
John Bernhardt
John Bernhardt
