Lion Sculptures

This amusing naturalistic sculpture in silver-plated pewter was probably made in the 17th century by Georg Schweigger. Inspired by a model created by another Nuremberg sculptor, Peter Flötner, it bears witness to the persistence during the baroque era of the naturalistic taste that emerged in the Renaissance. Intended as an ornament for some Kunstkammer, or cabinet of curiosities, this sculpture was a great success, as can be seen from the presence of similar works in many European museums. 1. Georg Schweigger Georg Schweigger was a baroque sculptor and medal founder from Nuremberg, known mainly for his small-scale works in stone, carved wood and cast metal. His only large-scale work, the Neptune Fountain, has been in the Petershof Palace, the summer residence of the Tsars near St. Petersburg, since 1797. This monumental sculpture demonstrates his taste for the representation of movement, which we find in this small piece, inspired, as we shall see, by earlier models. 2. The success of a naturalistic theme As is often the case in the history of art, the source of the Dog scratching his ear theme probably comes from an engraving, and more precisely from one made in Strasbourg in 1480 or in Aschaffenburg in 1481 by the Master of the Housebook, an anonymous engraver working in southern Germany at the end of the 15th century. This engraving seems to have been Peter Flötner’s (1490 - 1546) source of inspiration. Peter Flötner was a sculptor and engraver who settled in Nuremberg in 1522. The Louvre Museum also has a gilded lead statuette dated between 1500 and 1515 (on deposit at the Musée de L'Œuvre in Strasbourg), which in turn is thought to have served as a model for other known statuettes. This model was later taken up by the Frenchman Barthélemy Prieur...

Lion strucking a wildboar by Antoine-Louis BARYE (1796-1875) A bronze sculpture with dark brown patina Signed on the base with moulding " Barye " Posthumous cast probably by Graux-M...

Bronze sculpture by artist Andrea Wilkinson. Edition 8/30.

About the artist : Naor is a French artist from Lyon born in 1988. Completely anchored in his time, he has always traveled a lot around the world. If travels form youth, Naor was ins...

Boris Lovet-Lorski, American (1894 - 1973) - Mother and Child, Medium: Bronze sculpture, signature inscribed on base, Size: 9.5 x 22 x 8 in. (24.13 x 55.88 x 20.32 cm), Reference: ...

Alfred Barye (1839-1882) "Lion and Antelope" Bronze Approx. 7.5H x 9W x 4D inches Signed "BARYE.ALF" and Inscribed under base "NO. 23 LION AND ANTELOPE" The son of a goldsmith, Parisian born Antoine-Louis Bayre was a sculptor of animal subjects and acclaimed, not only for his apparent skill, but as the founder of what became known as the French Animaliers School. Among his patrons were representatives of the state government and royalty including the Duke of Orleans and the Dukes of Luynes, Montpensier and Nemours. Well compensated financially, he was able to buy the best of materials and hire the country's most skilled foundry craftsmen. The foundry he hired was owned by Ferdinand Barbedienne, and casts from this period were stamped with the letters, FB. However, he did not make a lot of money from his work because he was such a perfectionist that often he would not sell his work because he thought it was not 'quite right'. In 1848, he declared bankruptcy, and his molds and plaster casts were sold along with the copyrights. Bayre's specialty was aroused, angry seeming wild game such as lions and tigers and elephants, but he also did equestrian groups and mythology figures. In order to do realistic depictions of animal anatomy, he spent much time at the Jardin de Plantes in Paris. His early training was as an apprentice to a metal engraver, but being drafted in the army in 1812, ended that education. In 1832, he had established his own studio, and unique at that time was his method of cold stamping his bronze casts, so that each one had a special number. He had his first entry, The Milo of Croton...