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Auguste Nicolas Caïn (French, 1821-1894)
Pompier and Caron, …
See original version (French)
302
-
Auguste Nicolas Caïn (French, 1821-1894)
Pompier and Caron, …
See original version (French)
Estimate €150,000 - €180,000
Voluntary lot
Please note that this lot is subject to restrictions.
If you would like to bid on this lot, we invite you to contact the office by email at [email protected]Description
Auguste Nicolas Caïn (French, 1821-1894)
Pompier and Caron, French mongrel dogs arrested on the exchange, 1887
Bronze.
Signed, inscribed "épreuve unique", titled, the dogs with the crew mark "B".
Founder A Rolland.
Height 205 Width 186 Depth 121 cm.
Provenance: Sotheby's sale, London, 1995.
Exhibition: Salon de la Société des artistes français, Paris, 1887, the marble exhibited under no. 3720.
Cain. Pompier and Caron, French Crossbred Hounds Held at the Relay Point. Unique bronze cast. 1887.
CAIN'S HUNTING DOGS
Imposing in its composition and the finesse of its modelling, this group of two bronze hunting dogs illustrates the talent of Auguste-Nicolas Caïn, one of the great animal sculptors of the 19th century. Trained by Pierre-Jules Mêne (1810-1879), with whom he shared the foundry, married his daughter and then took over the workshop on his death, Caïn soon turned his attention to animal sculpture and became a major figure in monumental sculpture. In 1880, he was commissioned by Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, to create several bronze sculptures for the Chantilly estate: stags, wolves and wild boars. Two monumental groups of pairs of Chiens de Saint-Hubert were installed on the château's terrace: Fanfaraut et Brillador and Lumineau et Séduisant.
Cain agreed not to reproduce his dogs identically for this illustrious commissioner, faithful to his method based on observation of the living world. However, a variant was finally created and exhibited in marble at the 1887 Salon (Chiens bâtards français arrêtés sur le change, Matador et Caron), bought by the Elysée Palace and now on display in the Parc Jean Moulin behind the town hall in Le Chambon-Feugerolles in the Loire. A second variant was cast in 1893 by Barbedienne for the banker Jacques Stern (untitled, Sotheby's sale, London, 22 November 2024, no. 49). Our group of dogs, named Pompier and Caron, corresponds to the Chiens de Saint Hubert of the Duc d'Aumale, titled Lumineau and Séduisant, and to those in the first version for the 1887 Salon, Matador and Caron.
Unlike those of Aumale, the other dogs are tied to a relay, in this case a tree trunk at the top of which is a hunting horn. Although the hunting horn has disappeared over time from the 1887 marble group, it is the same group as ours, with the hounds' flanks marked with the letter B. Those of the Duc d'Aumale have an inverted triangle on the right flank and those of Jacques Stern's crew are marked with an S. Although these dogs are marked with a B rather than a U, according to an unestablished tradition this bronze would have belonged to Anne de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Duchess of Uzès (1847-1933), who took over the whip of the Rallye-Bonnelles, decoupling in the forest of Rambouillet, on the death of her husband.
The four dogs of the Duc d'Aumale were cast, like these, by Rolland, while those of Jacques Stern were cast by his successors Jaboeuf and Bezout and by Barbedienne. A. Rolland, a Paris foundryman and Boyer's successor, died in 1887. His widow sold the company to Jaboeuf and Bezout, who advertised in the 1890 trade directory "special workshops for casting statues, monuments and other large-scale pieces" (E. Lebon, 2003, p. 217).
Pompier and Caron reflect the anatomical precision and observational skills of their creator. The tension of the attitudes and the dynamic between the figures give the whole a strong expressiveness, combining movement and the discipline of hunting with hounds. One, seated, is calm, the other, standing, is alert. The realistically-treated base evokes a forest floor strewn with branches and leaves. If it could, it would smell of moss and undergrowth. In terms of the quality of its workmanship, its balanced composition and its rich history, this bronze is an exceptional testament to the skills of Auguste-Nicolas Caïn and the importance of animal sculpture in 19th-century France.
Aymeric Rouillac and Noémie Fouché
See original version (French)
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Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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