Female mask, polychrome glass paste sculpture by Henry Cros (1840-1907), signed on the back in Cros relief.
Born into a family of intellectuals, he studied under François Jouffroy and Antoine Etex at the Beaux-Arts de Paris. The latter, a student of Ingres, transmitted to him the taste for harmonious line.
The plaster bust of his brother, the poet Charles Cros, was the first work he exhibited at the Salon of 1861, then he exhibited three other works at the Salon des Refusés in 1863.
Between 1869 and 1880, he distinguished himself by his research on encaustic painting in the manner of the portraits of the Egyptian-Roman Soter family, kept in the Louvre Museum.
This quest to rediscover ancient techniques was fully illustrated from 1880 onwards in the reinvention of colored glass paste in the mass.
In 1889, he was awarded the Silver Medal for his eight bas-reliefs at the Universal Exhibition.
In 1892 and 1894, he received two important commissions from the State with "L'Histoire de l'Eau" and "L'Histoire du Feu", then a commission from the city of Paris: "L'apothéose de Victor Hugo" two years before his death.
Rodin wrote at his death: "Henry Cros like all the artists of the Mediterranean was a Greek. His sculpture has this serenity which makes it similar to Greek art; it is, I think, the most beautiful praise that can be made of an artist. Cros was one of the most glorious men of 19th century statuary. He has passed on, unknown.
