Jeanne Hugues ROYANNEZ, Three-element clock

Jeanne Hugues Royannez, 1855 - 1932. French sculptor
Three-part clock mounted on a black and white veined marble base.
Silver patina bronze, onyx base. France, 1925
Signed "Jeanne Hugues" on the left rear leg.
Dimensions: 13.5 x 38 x 12.5 cm.very good condition.
Popular exotic motif that expresses the dynamism and gentleness of its movement.
Jeanne Royannez, born in Paris, was the daughter of Republican publicist Adolphe Royannez. In 1871, she took part in the Marseille Commune, during which she met socialist journalist Clovis Hugues (1851-1907), whom she married.
The year of her marriage, Jeanne Royannez-Huges was insulted by a Bonapartist journalist, Désiré Mordant of the newspaper L'aiglon des Bouches-du-Rhône. Her husband challenged him to a duel and killed him. He was acquitted in February 1878.
Accused in 1882 by the Countess d'Osmond-Lenormand of seducing her husband, Jeanne Royannez-Hugues was slandered for two years by a detective, Jean Morin, on the Countess's orders, in order to damage her reputation and the political career of Clovis Hugues. Exasperated, Jeanne Royannez-Hugues shot Jean Morin three times inside the Paris courthouse, fatally wounding him. She was acquitted in January 1885.
The story inspired an Italian play in 1885. The life of Jeanne Hugues was brought to the screen by Gérard Oury in 1962, in Le crime ne paie pas. Michèle Morgan played Jeanne Royannez and Philippe Noiret Clovis Hugues.
Jeanne Royannez-Huges, a pupil of Laure Coutan-Montorgueil (1855-1914), began her career as a sculptor the following year, with her first exhibitions at the Salons. She produced several busts of her husband, Clovis Hugues, as well as "La bataille des dames", which recounts the actions of the women who saved the city of Marseille, besieged by the Constable de Bourbon in 1524.
Panthers, tigers and other exotic animals were popular Art Deco motifs. The dynamism and gentleness of their movements matched perfectly with popular streamlined shapes. French sculptor Jeanne Hugues-Royannez created this Chinese tiger around 1925. The tiger slips into a characteristic pose on the heavily veined onyx base.
A pupil of Laure Coutan, Jeanne Royannez was the daughter of Republican journalist Adolphe Royannez (1829-1894), director of L'Athée and La Voix du Peuple, member of the Marseilles Commune, companion of Gaston Crémieux and proscribed in 1851. She married socialist journalist Clovis Hugues, whom she met in Marseille in 1871, during the brief Commune that set the city ablaze. They married on her release from prison, on November 30, 1876, in Toulon.

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