Rembrandt Bugatti "Storks at Rest" Bronze Sculpture
Rembrandt Bugatti's striking bronze depicts a pair of elegant white storks. The male stork, positioned on the left, gently rests its head upon its soft breast while tucking one of its feet close to its body to conserve warmth. Meanwhile, the female stork on the right peacefully slumbers on the water's surface, her bill nestled among her feathers. While Rembrandt gained recognition in Paris, the rest of the Bugatti family, including his brother Ettore, the renowned sports car designer, established their business in Alsace. Storks hold a special place as the symbol of Alsace, where their abundant presence is seen as a harbinger of a prosperous year ahead. Every year, white storks embark on a migratory journey from Africa to Alsace, spending the warmer months in the region and faithfully returning to their familiar nests. These majestic birds can be spotted on rooftops, roadside poles, and church towers throughout every village, town, and city in Alsace.
- Product Details
- Curator's Notes
Item #: YB-21340
Artist: Rembrandt Bugatti
Country: France
Circa: 1907
Dimensions: 11" height, 18" width, 6.25" depth
Materials: Bronze
Signed: Impressed R Bugatti Piecc unique Foundry Mark "Cire Perdue A. A. Hébrard"
Literature: A similar bronze is pictured in: Carlo - Rembrandt - Ettore - Jean Bugatti, by Philippe Dejean, Paris: Éditions du Regard, 1981, p. 166.
An Alsatian saying says “Blessed is the home chosen by the stork to make its nest because the lightning will spare. “So the day and the night of St. John the Baptist June 24, 1007, a big storm of lightning fell on the Strasbourg Cathedral and occasioned great damage. This belief was so strong in 1007 that the workers who worked in the reconstruction of the Strasbourg Cathedral, partially destroyed by lightning, stopped their work for fear that lightning would strike again. They resumed only when a couple of storks took residence on the scaffolding.