CAST FROM THE MODEL BY PROSPER LECOURTIER, LATE 19TH CENTURY

A pupil of Coutan and the celebrated animalier sculptor Frémiet, Lecourtier received several medals exhibiting at the Salon during the latter part of the 19th Century, and was awarded a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1900. Specialising in the sensitive treatments of dogs, he was a friend of Hippolyte Moreau and at least on one occasion worked with him sculpting the hounds for the bronze group Piqueur au Relais. In the present example, Frémiet's influence is apparent in the warm character of the hounds' faces. This group was also edited as a 65 cm. high version of which a cast sold Christie's, New York, 9 December 2004, lot 46 ($28,680).