JEAN-LEON GEROME (FRENCH, 1824-1904): A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF A DANCING GIRL 'LA DANSEUSE A LA POMME' the semi-clad girl with long diaphanous dress, balancing on one foot, the other leg outstretched, an apple in her right hand and the hem of her dress held up in her left, on a shaped base signed 'J.L. GEROME' and numbered '1845', raised on a green marble cylindrical plinth, the bronze 27cm high, 35.5cm high overall Provenance: A private UK collection. THIS LOT WILL BE ON DISPLAY AT OUR SOUTH KENSINGTON GALLERY UNTIL 14TH MARCH AND AT OUR CHISWICK SALEROOM FROM 16TH - 21ST MARCH. Gérôme is perhaps most famous for his paintings but also achieved great success as a sculptor and his bronzes are now highly sought after. He was trained by the important painter Paul Delaroche and became a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he taught for nearly forty years and trained more than 2,000 students. The original  'Dancing Girl with Apple', also known as the 'Ancient Dancer' was first modelled in 1890 and was made of a luxurious combination of materials; the dress carved in green marble, the skin from ivory and the jewellery cast in bronze and mounted with semi-precious stones. It was 95cm high and was exhibited at the Salon in 1891, and at the Cercle de l'Union Artistique in 1893, and is now in a private collection in Geneva. In a letter of circa 1890 Gérôme compared the sculpture to his hoop dancer, held in the hand of his famous Tanagra: 'I have also lately finished a little figure in marble, half life-size, of a dancing girl, it is like the one Tanagra holds in her hand only this is more seriously made, and the nude portions, as well as the draperies, have been studied with care.' The dancing girl was subsequently cast in bronze by the Parisian founder Siot-Decauville who made editions in three different sizes and also produced versions like the original, incorporating combinations of materials such as marble, ivory, gilt and patinated bronze and even semi-precious stones. A chryselephantine example (gilt bronze and ivory) was sold Sotheby's London, 28th June 2007, lot 104, £84,000.  A further example of this model cast by Siot Fondeur Paris, at 52cm high was sold at Christie's, London, 17 June 2004, lot 54, £10,700.  Related Literature: G. M. Ackerman, The Life and Work of Jean-Léon Gérôme, Paris, 1986, no. S. 20