"Chapter I analyzes the condition of Degas' waxes at the time of his death and presents technical evidence indicating that only one of Degas' surviving waxes was posthumously assembled from scattered fragments. It also argues that the surviving Degas waxes do not represent a random sampling of a much larger lost sculptural oeuvre, and that Degas may have appreciated the seemingly damaged or incomplete state of some of his waxes. Chapter II presents physical and documentary evidence that the Degas plasters preserved for years at the old Valsuani foundry in Paris were not cast at the same time. Chapter III is an in-depth study of the Tub plaster, which records an earlier state of one of Degas' most important sculptures. Chapter IV presents physical and documentary evidence stating that perhaps as many as half of the Hébrard bronzes were actually cast at the Valsuani foundry in Paris in the 1950s and 1960s. It then considers the evidence as to when, how, and by whom the final selection of seventy-four Degas models that were eventually cast into bronze by Hébrard was made."-- On front flap of dust jacket.
"In 1955 seventy-four original plasters recording sculptures by Edgar Degas (1834-1917) were moved to the old Valsuani foundry in Paris only to reappear in France in 2004. These plasters are now being published for the first time, presenting new documentary and physical evidence regarding their dating following an in-depth analysis into the condition of Degas's waxes at the time of his death. Technical and documentary evidence now proves that as many as half of the serialized 'Hébrard' Degas bronzes now held in museum and private collections around the world were in fact cast at the Valsuani foundry in the 1950s and 1960s--long after the Hébrard foundry closed in 1935/36. All of the now cleaned seventy-four Degas plasters are recorded in full color illustrations in this scholarly catalogue raisonné."-- Publisher's website.