Antoine-Louis Barye French, 1795-1875

There is minor wear to the patina consistent with age, otherwise the condition is very good.
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The Percheron horse orginated in the region known as "Le Perche" in North West France. Legend has it that the type was established after the Battle of Tours in 732 when the Arabian horses abandoned by the defeated Moors were crossed with massive Flemish stock. This powerful horse was used as a battle mount in Medieval times and closer to Barye's own time its strength was valued for pulling stagecoaches and in farm labour.

Cheval Percheron first appears in Barye's seventh catalogue of 1865 under the heading of 'New Models'.  As one of Barye's late models it demonstrates his growing interest in scientific observation of type as well as a renewed interest in classical models. As Saunier writes, Barye 'was to get away from romanticism... through the strictness of his documentation, the fine balance of his figures, and the sincerity of their execution, and he quite shook it off in the works of his mature period which carry that stamp of external beauty, the strong and simple harmony, which is the mark of the remaining fragments of the finest age of Greek Art.'

Whilst the pose of the horse recalls the romanticism of Barye's Cheval Turc (see the following lot), Cheval Percheron appears to be tautly suspended in potential and massive energy in contrast to the unleashed power of the Cheval turc. The static silhouette recalls the ancient models of which Saunier writes, but another significant aspect to the model is its modernity. The smooth planes of the bronze describe the power and dignity of the horse with a simplicity which anticipates the iconic modern animal sculptures of the American sculptor Herbert Haseltine (1877-1962), who also took an interest in describing type and conformation with a distinctive simplicity of form.

The 20cm unmarked early casts are seldom seen. Thiebaut acquired the model following the Vente Barye in 1876 and it was offered in the foundry's catalogue in two sizes, of which this is the rarer large size. As Poletti and Richarme note the innate monumentality of the model was emphasised by Thiebaut's enlargement. It is the largest edited horse model by Barye.

RELATED LITERATURE
Saunier, p. 10; Horswell, p. 50; Poletti & Richarme, no. A133, p. 272