French school, ca. 1920. "Jouer pétanque". Patinated... Lot 86

French school, ca. 1920. "Jouer pétanque". Patinated bronze sculpture. Measurements: 34 x 15 x 22 cm. The game of petanque originated in the first decade of the twentieth century, born as a variant of the "jeu provençal", a popular ball game where you had to take three steps before the launch. The novelty of petanque was that the thrower remained still, with his feet together, at the moment of throwing the ball, so they began to call it "pieds tanqués" and gradually ended up acquiring the current name of "petanque". The sculpture, finely worked with a beautiful patina, shows us the importance that this game had in the French society at the beginning of the century, transversal to any social class.