Alfred Barye

ALFRED BARYE (Paris, 1839 - 1905).
Vase "The fountain", ca. 1895.
Silver-plated pewter.
Signed on lower left.
Stamps on the base.
Weight: 2.880 g.
Bibliography: Philippe DAHHAN, Étains 1900, 200 Sculpteurs de la Belle
Époque, Les Éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, 2000. Reproduced p. 38, fig. 55.
Measurements: 36 x 14 x 18 cm.

Vase of elegant design with a baluster shape, long narrow neck, and a prominent handle at the top. The relief decoration combines vegetal motifs (branches) with the figure of a lightly dressed young woman.

Alfred Barye was a prominent Belle Époque sculptor and a pupil of his famous father, Antoine-Louis Barye. Initially, Alfred was forced to execute his father's works without being able to use his own signature. His most notable work includes bronzes of animals and orientalist characters. He collaborated with Émile-Coriolan Guillemin on works such as Le Cavalier arabe, cast at the prestigious Maison Barbedienne in Paris. To distinguish himself from his progenitor, he signed his early works as "Le fils" (The Son). Like his father, Alfred became the sculptor of choice of the French nobility, being the favorite of Ferdinand Philippe d'Orleans and, later, the quasi-official sculptor of Napoleon III. His works were also collected by the Bonaparte family. His most popular subjects were racehorses, although he cultivated both his father's style and one of his own.