Antoine-Louis BARYE
( 1795 - 1875 )
CERF QUI MARCHE N°1
Primary state before both first versions.
Bronze, richly shaded clear brown patina.
Trial lifetime example signed "Barye", variant for the neck and the base (shorter, but structurally persistant in the composition, stamped "Barye 1" with elongated and thiner traces) - only identified example by us for this state.
Circa (1837 or before)
Bronze, richly shaded clear brown patina.
Trial lifetime example signed "Barye", variant for the neck and the base (shorter, but structurally persistant in the composition, stamped "Barye 1" with elongated and thiner traces) - only identified example by us for this state.
Circa (1837 or before)
Detailed Description
Barye’s "Cerf qui marche": Trial Cast
Apart from the standing and reclining stags from Susse, dating from 1829–1830, and the small juvenile stags, the Cerf qui marche of 1837 is one of the very first sculptures – predating the Cerf debout and the Cerf à l'écoute – to have been modelled by Barye, and it is the one that has given rise to the greatest number of studies and versions, as our bronze exemplifies.
This is a ‘cast from the plaster model’, a trial cast made prior to the creation of the master model in the Louvre Museum for the first version; it is mounted on a short, rounded plinth, predating the trial cast stamped "Barye 1" (courtesy of the Sladmore Gallery, Stuart Pivar, second edition). Indeed, structurally, the central section reveals the same plinth, which has been refined and elongated at the ends. The position of the tail is similar, as is that of the right foreleg, and the development of the animal’s antlers.
This clearly demonstrates the extreme care the artist took with his editions, and it is this that has made the ‘Barye bronze collection’—unique in its form and unity in the history of art—so sought-after throughout the world.
Apart from the standing and reclining stags from Susse, dating from 1829–1830, and the small juvenile stags, the Cerf qui marche of 1837 is one of the very first sculptures – predating the Cerf debout and the Cerf à l'écoute – to have been modelled by Barye, and it is the one that has given rise to the greatest number of studies and versions, as our bronze exemplifies.
This is a ‘cast from the plaster model’, a trial cast made prior to the creation of the master model in the Louvre Museum for the first version; it is mounted on a short, rounded plinth, predating the trial cast stamped "Barye 1" (courtesy of the Sladmore Gallery, Stuart Pivar, second edition). Indeed, structurally, the central section reveals the same plinth, which has been refined and elongated at the ends. The position of the tail is similar, as is that of the right foreleg, and the development of the animal’s antlers.
This clearly demonstrates the extreme care the artist took with his editions, and it is this that has made the ‘Barye bronze collection’—unique in its form and unity in the history of art—so sought-after throughout the world.
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