Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

In 1859, the Town Council of Raon-l'Étape launched a project of urban beautification by commanding artistic fountains in cast iron. The first statues, made by industrialist M. Brochon (Haute-Marne), were followed in 1863 by models of the Ducel house (Paris). These eleven fountains, executed between 1860 and 1864, reproduce famous works from the Louvre or are inspired by Greco-latin mythology, such as Le Bonheur, Diane de Fabies or Les Trois Coliches. The latter, in Vosges, pays tribute to three local children (Nicolas Lubin, Gabriel Charles, Marie Dominique Gustave), whose parents, Nicolas Stevenel and Marie Gaillard, financed the fountain anonymously.

Fountains, cast in the Ducel (Pocé-sur-Cisse) or the Osne-le-Val foundries, become emblems of the city, reproduced on commercial objects (plates, postcards). Ranked historic monuments on 15 September 1995, they illustrate the golden age of the cast iron art under the Second Empire. In the 1930s, the children's fountain and the Swan disappeared, but the other ten, restored by the municipal technical services, were the subject of guided tours. Their circular arrangement around the city centre (Abbé-Claude Street, Place de la Résistance, etc.) reflects a desire to harmonize water distribution and urban aesthetics.

The mythological and local inspiration of the fountains — allegories (Autumn, Minerva), animals (The Goat), or childish scenes — testifies to an artistic eclecticism typical of the period. Their commission is part of a national movement to develop public spaces, where industry (Fonderies des Vosges and Haute-Marne) serves cultural ambitions. The family archives of the Stevenel reveal that Les Trois Coliches also celebrated the profession of wood float, a major activity in the Vosges in the 19th century.

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