Lot Essay
These playful candelabra are one of Barye's final creations, in which he combines a number of his previously executed animal studies together in a tour de force. The upper section is from Bayre’s study Milan emportant un lièvre, in which a kite is carrying a hare. The base incorporates the stag from Cerf frottant ses bois contre un arbre, the doe from Daine couchée and the fawn from Faon de daim, tête levée, for a family of deer, which was never offered as a model on its own, but was edited for use as the central group for this pair. An example of the group lacking its further fitments was sold Barye Bronzes: An Important Private Collection; Christie’s, New York, 25 April 2003, lot 71 ($57,360). See M. Poletti & A. Richarme, Barye, Catalogue raisonné des sculptures, Paris, 2000, no. D10, p. 376 for further discussion of the model.