"Lion Assis no. 2" | Antoine-Louis Barye & Delafontaine

ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE
French, 1796-1875

"Lion Assis, no. 2"

Sand-cast bronze with autumnal patina | signed in cast BARYE, stamped verso "AD" surmounted by a star

Item # 211XNI30E  Initially modeled by Barye in 1846 as a commission by Louis-Phillipe for the Tuilleries Gardens at a cost of 10,000 francs, the life-size sculpture sat near to Barye's Lion au Serpent until it was later moved in 1867 to the grand entrance to Pavilion de Flore and a pair was crafted for it using a mechanical technique. This incensed Barye, as he insisted a mate must be sculpted to oppose Lion Assis but the government refused on the basis of the high cost. There are striking similarities between Lion Assis and Barye's Lion of the July Column, both beasts with notable similarity in the multiple layers of their manes and the quiet repose and powerful presence of the motionless Lion Assis is a natural development over his violent clashing group of Lion au Serpent from thirteen years prior.

Version no. 1 was first offered in Barye's 1847 catalogue as no. 99 and due to the popularity of the sculpture it was cast in four different editions with varying dimensions. Lion Assis no. 2 was originally set over two base types: the more rare naturalistic base seen in the present model and the more common molded base (which incidentally also gives that variation some additional height). It was cast posthumously by Auguste Delafontaine, Hector Brame, Colin, Barbedienne and Graech-Marly. The same model and the original plaster and wax are held in the permanent collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (acc. no. 2007.70 & 71).

The present example is a post-humous cast by August Delafontaine, bearing the A*D mark of their foundry on the reverse of the sculpture. It retains brilliant jewel-like surface texture with no evidence of cold-tooling, the signature captured from the mold and the whole finished in a nuanced "autumnal" patina consisting of various hues of browns, greens and blacks.

For a similar example, see an August Delafontaine cast of Lion Assis no. 2 offered at Sotheby's in September of 2008 (sale no. n08496) as lot 211 which achieved $ 6375 USD.

Artist Listings & Bibliography:

Barye: Catalogue raisonné des sculptures, Polleti & Richarme, 2000, p. 182, cat. A57, ill. 143
The Founders and Editors of the Barye Bronzes, Reinis, 2007, see p. 85-88 for discussion of Delafontaine and their role in casting Lion Assis (fig. 50), see p. 79-80 (fig. 25) for discussion of Ancienne Maison Colin and their role in casting Lion Assis with the naturalistic base; see H. Brame's 1898 catalogue entry for Lion Assis on p. 67 (no 10 in their catalogue over a cove molded base, 21 cm height)
Untamed: The Art of Antoine-Louis Barye, Walters Art Gallery, 2006, see p. 163 for discussion of the model
The Barye Bronzes: A catalogue raisonne, Pivar, 1990, plate XI (A45)
Antoine-Louis Barye: Sculptor of Romantic Realism, Benge, 1984, fig. 117, p. 126
Bronze Sculpture of Les Animaliers, Horswell, 1974, p. 62
Dictionnaire des sculptures de l'école française, vol. 1, 1914, p. 76

Measurements: 7 1/2" H x 3 1/8" D x 6 1/4" W

Condition Report:
Light edge wear around extreme edges of base rim, very minor handling wear to extreme points, cleaned and in very good overall condition.