CAST BY FERDINAND BARBEDIENNE FROM THE MODEL BY ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE (1796-1875), PARIS, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Though chiefly known for his work in the animalier realm, Antoine-Louis Barye also executed a series of celebrated equestrian sculptural groups including the dramatic Angélique et Roger, montés sur l’hippogriffe which was created as part of an elaborate garniture de cheminée for the duc de Montpensier in the 1840s. The present model, representing a Tartar warrior astride his rearing steed, reprises much of the theatricality and careful attention to detail Barye exhibited in this celebrated mythological sculpture. Poletti and Richarme suggest that the model is `emblématique de la statuette romantique…[et] l’un des plus célèbres de Barye’ and first document it in his oeuvre from the 1850s (M. Poletti and A. Richarme, op. cit., p. 76).