.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The present monumental group is likely the one referred to by Lami as La Saut de la haie. The plaster model was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1882 (no. 4132), the bronze in 1884 (no. 3301), and the bronze again at the Exposition Universelle in 1889 (no. 1692) (S. Lami, Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de l'Ecole Français au dix-neuvième siècle, Paris, 1914, vol V, p. 129). Bonheur created several powerful variations on this quintessentially English steeplechase theme. His models, cast in a range of sizes, display one, two, and even three horses at a time captured in mid-jump.
Bonheur had a close working relationship with his brother-in-law, the celebrated Parisian fondeur Hippolyte Peyrol, who was married to his sister Juliette. This close bond resulted in the production of exceptionally cast and finely chased bronzes, often identified, as here, by Peyrol's miniscule cachet.
Operating from large premises at 43, boulevard des Capucines from 1886, and on place Vendôme after 1908, the firm of Boudet was one of the most important Parisian retailers of haut luxe furniture, bronzes, objets d'art, silver and even jewellery. Another example of the present model, inscribed by Boudet, is illustrated in Christopher Payne's Animals in Bronze, pl. H189, where it is identified as "two steeplechasers taking a brushwood fence".
A related model with three horses, likely the model referred to by Kjellberg as Course de steeple (trois chevaux sautant une haie), appeared at Sotheby's London, 12 November 1997, lot 423 (P.J. Kjellberg, Les Bronzes du XIX siècle, Paris 1989, pp. 101-103). Another example of the present cast sold these rooms 5 December 2003, lot 33, ($175,500).
For a further note on Isidore Bonheur, see lot 49.
Bonheur had a close working relationship with his brother-in-law, the celebrated Parisian fondeur Hippolyte Peyrol, who was married to his sister Juliette. This close bond resulted in the production of exceptionally cast and finely chased bronzes, often identified, as here, by Peyrol's miniscule cachet.
Operating from large premises at 43, boulevard des Capucines from 1886, and on place Vendôme after 1908, the firm of Boudet was one of the most important Parisian retailers of haut luxe furniture, bronzes, objets d'art, silver and even jewellery. Another example of the present model, inscribed by Boudet, is illustrated in Christopher Payne's Animals in Bronze, pl. H189, where it is identified as "two steeplechasers taking a brushwood fence".
A related model with three horses, likely the model referred to by Kjellberg as Course de steeple (trois chevaux sautant une haie), appeared at Sotheby's London, 12 November 1997, lot 423 (P.J. Kjellberg, Les Bronzes du XIX siècle, Paris 1989, pp. 101-103). Another example of the present cast sold these rooms 5 December 2003, lot 33, ($175,500).
For a further note on Isidore Bonheur, see lot 49.