Panthère dévorant un lièvre (Jaguar devouring a hare)

Exhibited in 1850, the near life-size plaster version of Jaguar et lièvre, the initial title for Jaguar dévorant un lièvre, marked Barye's return to the Salon after some fifteen years absence. A bronze cast, commissioned by the minister for the Interior the following year, was shown at the 1852 Salon and has been in the collection of the Louvre, Paris, since 1886. It was later joined by the plaster and bronze modèles, given by Jacques Zoubaloff in 1912. The model was edited posthumously by Barbedienne in its original size (as here) and in two reductions (see lot 223 for an example of the smaller).

A Barbedienne cast of this original size was sold Christie's New York, 22 May 1990, lot 83 ($38,500).