Ours assis (Reclining bear)

A favourite among collectors of Barye bronzes, Ours assis is an early work, dating from 1833. Initial épreuves d'artiste, cast either by Honoré Gonon and his two sons, or by Richard and Quesnel, show the reclining bear on a naturalistic base. In around 1845, a stepped base was added, as seen in the present example. Poletti and Richarme estimate the number of lifetime casts to be about sixty. At the Atelier sale, the bronze modèle and its plaster were acquired by Jacquemart and the model was subsequently edited by Barbedienne until the mid-1920s.

A Barbedienne cast of Ours assis sold Sotheby's New York, The Marshall B. Coyne Collection, 6 June 2001, lot 317 ($12,000).