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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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CAVALIER ARABE A very fine turn of the nineteenth century bronze patinated white metal statue, cast from a model by Alfred Barye and Emile-Coriolan-Hippolyte Guillemin entitled ‘Cavalier Arabe’, signed on the base Barye Fils/Ele. Guillemin with roundel stamp inscribed FABRICATION FRANCAISE, PARIS, MADE IN FRANCE, portraying an Arab hunter mounted upon a prancing horse, a dead gazelle slung behind his saddle, upon an oval naturalistic base Paris, date circa 1890-1910 Height 87 cm, width 61 cm, depth 30 cm. Literature: Pierre Kjellberg, “Les Bronzes du XIXe Siècle”, 1986, p. 369, illustrating a similar model. This imposing Oriental equestrian statue was cast from a model made by Alfred Barye (1839-82) and Emile-Coriolan-Hippolyte Guillemin (1841-1907). The collaboration between these two fine sculptors during their maturity, encapsulates the exotic and romantic elements that pervaded French sculpture throughout the nineteenth century. The model was also made in pure bronze measuring 80 cm and 66 cm in height. Collaborations between artists always arouse interest, providing an insight into their working methods and highlighting both their similarities and differences. The two sculptors were born in Paris within a few years of one another, Barye on 21st January 1839 and Guillemin on 16th October 1841; both studied under their respective fathers and later demonstrated a talent for modelling animalier as well as Oriental subjects. Alfred Barye grew up in the shadow of his father Antoine-Louis Barye (1796-1875), the esteemed animalier sculptor. From his youth he learned the art of bronze sand casting while working alongside his brothers in his father’s studio and foundry. Many of Alfred’s early works, especially small bronze casts of wild animals reflected his father’s influence and show a remarkable degree of detail, workmanship and finish to them. Among his most successful and numerous figures were a series of notable racehorses of the day, some of which were shown at the Paris Salon, 1864-82. In 1864 he showed a bronze of the racehorse, Walter Scott, followed in 1865 by one of Vermout as well as a portrait medallion and in 1882 a bronze of an Italian jester. Added to this Alfred produced an imposing equestrian bronze of Joan of Arc as well as numerous animalier groups including a giraffe, stags fighting, dogs and game birds. There was often conflict between father and son, not least that for some time both signed their work ‘Barye’ or ‘A Barye’, with its inevitable confusion. To alleviate this and after many disagreements Alfred agreed to change his signature and thus toward the latter part of his career signed his work either, as here, ‘Barye Fils’ or ‘Alf. Barye’. Despite an assertion that Alfred was not as dedicated as his father he was certainly a master in his own right whose work continues to command the praise it rightly deserves. Like Barye, Guillemin also studied under his father - the sculptor Emile-Marie (fl 1848-70) and in addition trained under the sculptor Jean Jules Salmson (1823-1902). Guillemin’s repertoire was somewhat broader than Barye’s and in addition to Eastern subjects and animals, particularly horses he modelled Biblical subjects such as ‘Eliezer et Rébecca’ (Musée de Montréal), various Turkish, Kurdish and Roman soldiers, as well as portraits including a full length of Napoleon Bonaparte, a bust of William Shakespeare and of Thiers (plaster: Musée de Toulouse). He also produced pairs of figures for the Barbedienne foundry and was from 1870-99, a keen exhibitor at the Paris Salon, where he got an honourable mention in 1897 for his ‘Aide Fauconnier Indien, Retour de Chasse à la Gazelle’. As here, other Salon works such as ‘Femme Mauresque’, 1877 and ‘Jeune Fille Arabe du Caire’, 1881 reflected his love for Oriental subjects. |