Tom, lévrier d'Algérie, esquisse (Tom, Algerian greyhound, sketch model)

The present lot is a cast of the sketch model for the lifesize marble original of Tom, lévrier d'Algérie, executed for Comte Nicolaï in 1868. Subsequently offered in Barye's last two catalogues, Poletti and Richarme estimate the number of lifetime épreuves of the model to be less than twenty. At the Atelier sale, the modèle was acquired by Susse, who appear not to have actually edited it, the work being cast instead by Brame in around 1900.