Animal Sculptures

Superb Silvered patinated Bronze Polar Bear Sculpture by George Lavroff mounted on a solid black marble base, modelled in the Art Deco style. Circa 1930s. Condition: Perfect showroo...

Royal House Antiques Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this stunning original Circa 1880 hand made in Italy Grand Tour bronze of the Horses of Saint Marks This i...

Pair of mid 20th century carved solid wood lions circa 1950. Here we offer a fine pair of decorative carved lions for the ultimate installation piece.  Heavily carved out of solid w...

Our antique Grand Tour period rhyton cup in the form of a deer head has a fine verdigris patina and stands 10 inches tall. Apparently unsigned.

Grand Tour Style Young Stag Patinated Bronze Sculpture, Circa 20th Century, on a black painted wood base. Overall: 13.75" H x 7.5" W x 4.5" D.

This remarkable horse sculpture depicts a head and shoulders study of a wild stallion and mare carved meticulously from figured and veined natural marble stone with colours ranging f...

A very handsome ceramic Grand Tour desk top model of the Capitoline Lion. The molded recumbent figure of a lion shown outstretched atop an integral rectangular base. The origin of t...

A pair of resting bronze lions on shaped walnut painted plinths modeled on the original marble sculpture by Antonio Canova. Reduction from the originals created by Antonio C...

A mid-19th century model of the Uffizi Boar, called 'Il Porcellino', by Austin & Seeley, the seated figure of the boar on an integral square plinth. This cast stone model of the Uffizi Boar takes its name from a 17th-century bronze fountain by sculptor Pietro Tacca, made for Cosimo II de' Medici and originally placed in the Loggia at the Mercato Nuovo in Florence. This civic space was also known as the Loggia del Porcellino, named after the boar as rubbing the statue's nose is said to bring great wealth. Made in the 1630s, it was modelled after an earlier marble version (Italian, 2nd-1st century BC) discovered in Rome in 1556 on the slopes of the Esquiline Hill, itself thought to be based on a lost Greek Hellenistic bronze version. After restoration, the marble statue was brought to Florence in 1568 as a gift from Pope Pius IV to Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, initially placed in the Pitti Palace. Both this marble and the 17th-century bronze versions are now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It remained an immensely popular subject for Grand Tourists, who collected their own versions. It is a testament to the commercial prowess of Austin and Seeley...

This superb pair of Grand Tour Italian gilt bronzes dates to the late 19th century. They are solid cast and very heavy for their size. They are decorative Grand Tour reproductions ta...

A Fine Pair of French 19th/20th Century Gilt-Bronze Sculptures of "The Marly Horses" (Now turned into lamps) After the original by Guillaume Coustou (French, 1677-1746). The large pair of equestrian bronze sculptures, finished in a gold patina, each depicting rearing horses with their groom, both raised on oval a black slate and Bardiglio marble bases and fitted with modern electrical twin-light brass fittings and cream colored shades. The base on an ebonized wooden platform. Circa: Paris, 1900-1920. Sculpture & Base Height: 31 1/4 inches (79.8 cm) Base Width: 21 3/4 inches (55.3 cm) Base Depth: 12 3/4 inches (32.4 cm) Height to top of (Adjustable) shade fitting: 48 1/4 inches (122.6 cm) Shade Height: 15 inches (38.1 cm) Shade Width: 26 inches (66.1 cm) Shade Depth: 20 inches (50.8 cm) The original Marly Horses are two 1743–1745 Carrara marble sculpted groups by Guillaume Coustou. They were commissioned by Louis XV of France for the trough at the entrance to the grounds of his château de Marly. Coustou's last works, they were intended to replace two other sculpted groups, Mercury on Pegasus and Pegasus, Renown of Horses, both by Antoine Coysevox, which had been removed to the Tuileries Gardens in 1719. Louis XV chose the modellos in 1743 and the full-size sculptures were completed in only two years, being installed at Marly in 1745. They proved highly successful in reproduction, particularly on a smaller scale, and prefigured Théodore Géricault and other Romantic artists' obsession with equestrian subjects. The Marly horses were later also used as the central motif of the monochrome 819-line RTF/ORTF test card which was used on TF1 from 1953 until 1983. The originals were moved to the place de la Concorde in Paris in 1794 and Louis-Denis Caillouette (1790–1868) restored them in 1840. In 1984 it was concluded that the annual military parades on 14 July were damaging the sculptures and they were replaced by marble copies produced by Michel Bourbon in the studio of a subsidiary of Bouygues. The latter also gained the right to an extra copy, which was placed in Bouygues's social building. The original sculptures were moved to a former courtyard in the Richelieu wing of the Louvre Museum, which was renamed the 'cour Marly' in their honour, whilst Bourbon's two main copies were moved to the originals' first site near the trough at Marly, with work overseen by the architect Serge Macel. Guillaume Coustou the Elder (29 November 1677, Lyon – 22 February 1746, Paris) was a French sculptor of the Baroque and Louis XIV style. He was a royal sculptor for Louis XIV and Louis XV and became Director of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1735. He is best known for his monumental statues of horses made for the Chateau of Marly, whose replicas now stand in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Coustou was a member of a family of famous sculptors; his uncle, Antoine Coysevox, was a royal sculptor; his elder brother, Nicolas Coustou was a sculptor, and his son Guillaume Coustou the Younger also become a noted royal sculptor. Like his older brother, he won the (Prix de Rome) of the Royal Academy which entitled him to study for four years at the French Academy in Rome. However, he refused to accept the discipline of the academy, gave up his studies, set out to make his own career as an artist. He worked for a time in the atelier of the painter Pierre Legros, and eventually returned to Paris. Upon his return to Paris, he assisted his uncle Coysevox in making two monumental equestrian sculptures, Fame and Mercury, for the Château de Marly, the new residence of Louis XIV near the Palace of Versailles, where he went to escape the crowds and ceremony of the Palace. He later (1740–1745), made his own horses, The Horses of Marly, his most famous works, to replace them. The horses reinvent the theme of the colossal Roman marbles of the Horse Tamers in the Piazza Quirinale, Rome. They were commissioned by Louis XV in 1739 and installed in 1745 at the Abreuvoir ("Horse Trough") at Marly. The horses were considered masterpieces of the grace and expressiveness of the French Late Baroque or Rococo style. After the Revolution they were moved from Marly to the beginning of the Champs-Élysées on the Place de la Concorde. The originals were brought indoors for protection at the Louvre Museum in 1984. In 1704 Coustou was received into the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. The work he made to mark his entrance was Hercules on the Pyre, now in the Louvre. It displays the special hallmark of the Baroque, a twisting and rising transverse pose, as well as highly skillful carving. He rose to become Director of the academy in 1733. Another of his major works from his later career, the statue of Maria Leszczynska, (1731)is on display at the Louvre. Coustou also created two colossal monuments, The Ocean and the Mediterranean among other sculptures for the park at Marly; the bronze Rhone, which formed part of the statue of Louis XIV at Lyons, and the sculptures at the entrance of the Hôtel des Invalides. Of these latter, the bas-relief representing Louis XIV mounted and accompanied by Justice and Prudence was destroyed during the Revolution, but was restored in 1815 by Pierre Cartellier from Coustou's model; the bronze figures of Mars and Minerva (1733–34), on either side of the doorway, were not interfered with. In 1714 for Marly he collaborated in two marble sculptures representing Apollo Chasing Daphne (both at the Louvre), in which Nicolas Coustou sculpted the Apollo and Guillaume the Daphne. About the same time he was commissioned to produce another running figure in marble, a Hippomenes designed to complement an Atalanta copied from the Antique by Pierre Lepautre...

Pair of 20th century white porcelain horses on clouds, above rocaille bases richly decorated with scrollwork and openwork foliage. Both figures are marked underneath with two crossed...

A mid-19th century bronze sculpture of a wolf, set upon a green marble plinth.

Italian 18th C Grand Tour Roman Bronze Bust of a Horse, Specimen Marble Base Italy, Later 18th Century A Italian 18th Century Grand Tour Roman Bronze Bust of a Horse, displayed on ...

A 19th century French bronze gilt boar head. The boar with inlaid Glass eyes. D'ore (Gilt) bronze chenets, cast with the figure of a boar head. Boar Bronze...

19th century pair of bronze Egyptian Revival sphinx figures in reclining poses seated on solid wooden rectangular plinth bases. A well-detailed...

19th century Italian Grand Tour panther handled askos, or wine vessel. The design of this piece is probably based on a bronze Roman askos held within Naples Museum. An askos is an a...

Antique Grand Tour 'King Charles Cavalier Spaniel' micro mosaic plaque - hand made to the finest quality with great detail - may be framed or mount...

Guillaume Coustou (1677 - 1746) "Le cheval de Marly", sculpture in bronze Measures: H: 57 cm W: 47 cm D: 22 cm.

Beautifully cast and very compelling 19th century Grand Tour bronze oil lamp in the ancient Roman style with dolphin handles. The dolphin sh...

A Beautiful Pair of 19th Century Antique Grand Tour Patinated Bronze Grey Hounds Seated on Marble Plinths. Each dog is beautifully cast and hand-chi...

A Beautiful Pair of Italian 19th Century Grand Tour Patinated Bronze Dogs on Green Marble Bases. Each dog is beautifully cast, hand-chassed, and hand-chiseled. They are life-like in ...

Large, exceptional quality bronze sculpture depicting The Education of Achilles by the Centaur Chiron, after the model by Francois Rude. Ear...

Pair of bronze Marly horses on Boulle style marquetry stands French, late 19th century Measures: Total height 73cm Horses: Height 60cm, width 53...

A pair of mounted porcelain Karp shaped vases. Gilt - Bronze Mounted Blue Enameled Stoneware, Chinese 18th Century, the Mounts are Louis XV, Circa 1750...

Grand Tour bronze model of a Recumbent horse, realistically cast and modeled, raised on a faux marbleized base.  

Grand Tour period bronze sculpture of lion resting on a rosso levanto marble base. France: circa 1850.

Pair of serpentine Grand Tour lions.

German glazed terracotta monkey tile by Karlshrue. German glazed terra cotta or Majolica monkey tile by Karlshrue, circa 1920. This gorgeous wall art depicts two monkeys on a tree br...

A fine 19th century Grand Tour miniature model of the Lion Attacking a Horse sculpture. Modeled after the ancient Roman version found on Capitoline Hill. Sized as a paperweight...

The pair of recumbent lions facing towards each other.

A fine and unusual French antique Grand Tour table thermometer in patinated bronze. Set upon a naturalistic trefoil shaped patinated bronze base with...

This stylish and handsome piece dates to the "Grand Tour" period of Europe and is titled the "Melossian Hound" of ancient Greece, Albania, and is carve...

A beautiful pair of 19th century antique grand tour patinated bronze dogs seated on siena marble plinths. Each dog is beautifully cast and hand-chiseled with meticulous craftsmanship...

A fine pair of French 19th century Rouge-Royal marble and figural gilt bronze-mounted flambeaux urns surmounted with four ormolu figures of dolphins supporting the center urn with th...

Fantastic pair of Roman bronze tripod stands, each with three removable hanging oil lamps, each of those a different type, with a lid in the form of an animal, a rat, a hawk and a swan. The detail on these is incredible, not an exact pair, one has stags heads the other goats heads, one a figure of Mercury, the other of young Dionysus...

A fine antique Grand Tour bronze sculpture. Depicting a seated boar on a pink Italian marble plinth. "Il Porcellino" is the ...