GASTON LE BOURGEOIS (1880-1956) "The Fox", 1928 Carved... Lot 11

GASTON LE BOURGEOIS (1880-1956) "The Fox", 1928 Carved bas-relief panel of a merchant fox, gilded and later silvered wood, on a rosewood base. Signed with the circular monogram 55.5 x 76.5 x 3 cm Provenance : Paul Lebrigand, then by descent to the present day History: Paul Lebrigand, a sailor, was wounded in the left hand in the Dardanelles during the First World War. He then joined the "Le Jouet de France" factory in Puteaux, specially created in January 1917 by François Carnot and Gaston Le Bourgeois for the hundreds of thousands of "gueules de France". for the hundreds of thousands of "gueules cassées" and war-wounded. There, he assisted Henry Rapin with stencil painting, and introduced techniques to help the disabled work faster. Legend has it that his ingenuity enabled a colleague to "turn around more than 100 duck bodies in an hour, whereas before he was turning 50". Gaston Le Bourgeois nicknamed him "renard" ("fox"), exclaiming "Lebrigand, you're as smart as a fox!", and the nickname was quickly adopted by the whole team. The high-relief fox was presented to him on his departure from the factory.