Lion assis No4, esquisse du Lion des Tuileries (Seated lion No4, sketch model for the Tuileries Lion)

Although not offered until Barye's 1870 catalogue, where it is listed as the sketch for the Lion des Tuileries, Lion assis No4 was almost certainly the first in the series to be actually modelled. It is also the rarest of the four models, with only twenty épreuves thought to have been cast during Barye's lifetime, and a similar number making up Brame's posthumous edition in 1876.

See lot 7 for a note on the celebrated collector, Jean-Baptiste Faure.