French Antique Bronze Sculpture “Tiger Walking” After Antoine-Louis Barye, Barbedienne

Barye’s ability to merge our romantic idealization of nature with a colder reality of nature’s predator is beautifully represented in this striding cat. Originally conceived in 1841, Tigre Qui Marche (Walking Tiger) is a picture of poise and intensity as this powerful beast moves nimbly across a dried cracked desert soil. Barye’s careful study of the animal’s anatomy, which include as preparatory work studies of the face as well as drawings of a flayed tiger’s shoulder and foreleg, culminated in this handsomely detailed model (Benge, fig. 155, fig. 158).

The present example was cast by the foundry of Ferdinand Barbedienne posthumously. They started producing casts of this work in 1877 after acquiring the molds from the Barye estate in 1875 and the firm continued to cast it even after merging with Leblanc well into the 20th century. Signed in the naturalistic rectangular base “F. Barbedienne Fondeur, Paris”, this cast was executed circa 1915. It is finished in a wonderful complex overall dark-brown patina with hints of black and a warm orange-bronze hue in relief. The underside is finished in gilt and is cold-tooled 19.691.

Artist Listings & Bibliography:

Barye: Catalogue Raisonné des Sculptures, Richarme and Poletti, 2000, p.198-99, f. A70
The Barye Bronzes: A Catalogue Raisonné, Stuart Pivar, 1974, p.159, f. A63
Antoine-Louis Barye: Sculptor of Romantic Realism, Glenn F. Benge, 1984, f. 67, discussion of the piece on p. 85-6

Measurements: 5 1/2″ H x 2 5/8″ D x 10 1/2″ W