*Finely carved and partially openworked ivory crucifix repre - Lot 371

*Finely carved and partially openworked ivory crucifix representing Christ. Head crowned with thorns facing right. Perizonium tied at the waist with a double cord. Top title engraved "Jesus Nazarenus. Rex Judaeorum". Signed on the reverse of the perizonium. In a Regency-style frame of molded, carved, stuccoed, gilded and darkened wood with a cross. Dieppe, work of Jean-Baptiste Lefebvre (1846-1906). Dimensions of Christ: 31.5x23 cm. Total dimensions: 75x48.5 cm. Gross weight: 2.1 kg. Grandson and son of Dieppe ivory-makers, Jean-Baptiste Lefebvre was one of the leading figures in ivory sculpture in the last third of the 19th century, due to the virtuosity of his work. In 1903, literary critic and future academician Charles Le Goffic (1863-1932) wrote of ivory carving in Dieppe: "One of the most esteemed, M. Lefebvre, works in chambers for Paris merchants and specializes in luxury crucifixes". In 1886, the Dames du Tréport commissioned him to create a Christ for Princess Amélie d'Orléans (1865-1951), on the occasion of her marriage to Duke Charles de Bragance (1863-1908), future King of Portugal. It took three months to complete. Awarded a silver medal by the Société des Amis des Arts de Dieppe in 1873, Jean-Baptiste Lefebvre is the creator of a number of remarkable pieces now in the Château-Musée de Dieppe.