The Mysterious Sphinx
by STAPPEN, Charles van der, Ivory, bronze, height 56 cm
Van der Stappen finished his chryselephantine (ivory and metal) sculptures to the ultimate degree of craft perfection. The bust of the Sphinx unites all the features of fin-de-siecle Belgian art and constitutes a sort of incunabulum of Art Nouveau in Belgium. The Sphinx is the image of literary Symbolism incarnate, while the use of exotic ivory underlines the aura of mystery.