"Beware of Dog" 19th Century French Bronze Dog on Chain, by Christophe Fratin

19th century bronze growling dog inkwell with collar and chain. This piece still has its original ink vessel.

If we had to summarize the work of Marie Christophe, we could argue that it is a marriage, a priori improbable, between sculpture and lightness. Light...

If we had to summarize the work of Marie Christophe, we could argue that it is a marriage, a priori improbable, between sculpture and lightness. Light...

If we had to summarize the work of Marie Christophe, we could argue that it is a marriage, a priori improbable, between sculpture and lightness. Light...

Here is a stunning pair of finely chiseled, bronze candlesticks from the mid-19th century. Each candlestick features ram's heads and grape clusters on the binet, while the shaft is a...

A gilt bronze candlestick featuring an acrobatic bear holding a twisted binet adorned with gadroons. On a round, flower-shaped base, the bear supports the candle holder. The candlest...

Exquisite mid 19th century French bronze study of an anthropomorphic bear sitting on a barrel playing a violin, the barrel can be opened halfway to form a container. The surface with excellent mid to dark brown patina and very fine hand chased surface detail, signed Fratin and titled Le Père Odry Additional Information Height: 17.8 cm Width: 8.6 cm Depth: 7.2 cm Condition: Excellent Original Condition Circa: 1845 Materials: Bronze Book reference: Bronzes of the 19th Century by Pierre Kjellberg About Le Père Odry Le Père Odry is a character in one of Balzac's novels, Unconscious Comedians which is one of the lesser known novels in the series La Comédie Humaine. The novel tells the story of a famous painter who takes his provincial cousin on a trip of Paris to open his eyes to what really goes on in the city behind the respectable façade. Le Père Odry appears in the novel as a dissolute actor. Christopher Fratin, French 1801 ~ 1864 also known as Christophe Fratin, was a noted French sculptor in the animalier style, and one of the earliest French sculptors to portray animals in bronze. Fratin was born in Metz, Moselle, France the son of a taxidermist. He first studied drawing under Pioche in Metz and later worked in Paris at the studio of Théodore Géricault. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1831–1842 and 1850–1862, as well as at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. Fratin never signed his bronzes but instead used a stamp showing his last name in straight block letters. One of the stamps he used (pictured) showed the "n" reversed, not by design but due to an error on the part of the maker of the stamp. Bronzes bearing this stamp have the appearance of not seeming to be genuine when in reality this foible is actually an indicator of authenticity. Fratin received monumental commissions in France and elsewhere, including the Deux Aigles Gardant Leur Proie (Eagles and Prey, created 1850) displayed since 1863 in New York City's Central Park. Many of his small bronzes—including his miniature bronzes which were more affordable due to their smaller size—were sold commercially to the general public during his lifetime. Today, Fratin's sculpture is on permanent display in the Louvre, the city museums of Metz, Lyon, Strasbourg, Nîmes and at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. The Georg Eisler...

Fratin bear cup is signed Daubrée editor, 19th century, silver plate bronze. The cup is mounted on foot and is composed at the base of elephant heads and...