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SLADMORE
1 ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE French, 1796–1875
2 ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE French, 1796–1875
Roger Abducting Angelique on the Hippogriff 1840 21 x 28 x 11 in; 53 x 71 x 28 cm
Tiger Attacking a Horse circa 1855 11 x 15 x 6 in; 28 x 38 x 15 cm
A rare, fine quality mid nineteenth century bronze model of Roger Abducting Angelique on the Hippogriff. This bronze, signed ‘BARYE’, was cast in the Atelier Barye/Brame foundry in circa 1875 and has a ‘feuille d’automne’ orangey-brown patina with green and black undertones.
A fine quality nineteenth century bronze model of a Tiger Attacking a Horse. This bronze, signed ‘BARYE’, was cast by the Brame foundry in Paris, circa 1876. It has a dark brown and black patina with red and green undertones.
Whilst not a classical subject, the theme of this work is similar to Barye’s other mythological pieces. Originally commissioned by the Duc de Montpensier around 1840, it is one of Barye’s most spectacular sculptures. His inspiration came from Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando Furioso, a series of chivalric romances centred around the pursuit of the beautiful but hapless Angelique. Few examples were cast during Barye’s lifetime, perhaps because the piece was unique in his oeuvre, but also because it was, at FF800, one of his most expensive works. The reproduction rights for this model were purchased at the Vente Barye of 1876 by Hector Brame, and as he employed in his foundry many of the artisans who had worked in Barye’s atelier (including Henri Coupens, credited with many of the outstanding patinas found on Barye bronzes), it is often hard to date these casts exactly. Whatever its exact date, this is a fine quality example of an outstanding model rarely seen on the market today. It is unique in Barye’s oeuvre both for its subject matter and (with the exception of his rare desk seal of Leda and the Swan) for its erotic undertones. Despite its size, it has a rare, jewel-like quality, which perhaps harks back to Barye’s days with the goldsmith Fauconnier, and is a tour de force of nineteenth century European sculpture.
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Collections: Musée du Louvre, Paris. Walters Gallery, Baltimore. Provenance: Victor Franses Gallery, London, 2000. Private collection, New York. There is no record of the date when Barye modelled this dramatic and vividly detailed combat scene, although in all probability it was inspired by his Horse Attacked by a Lion, which he completed around 1850. Surprisingly, however, whilst a number of lifetime casts exist of the Horse and Lion, Barye never produced a bronze edition of the Horse and Tiger, and consequently no chef-modèle was made by him either. Thus, the first edition of this model was cast in bronze in 1876 following the purchase of the original plaster model at the Barye Atelier Sale earlier that year. Two bronze versions exist, one on a raised profile base as shown, and another without: casts of both are rare. Barye greatly admired the paintings of Delacroix and Stubbs and was obviously inspired by their lion and horse paintings, so full of movement and expression. In this sculpture, Barye has captured the romantic energy of their paintings with his vivid treatment of the horse’s rippling mane, its frenzied eye and gaping mouth.
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