catalog text
A RARE BRONZE GROUP OF "CHÈVRE ET SES PETITS" BY EMMANUEL FREMIET
With a complex reddish-brown and black patina; stamped in cast "E. FREMIET"; circa 1860
Item # 011VNI14L
A very fine and quite rare model of a nanny goat and her two kid goats, noted in Fremiet's 1859-1860 catalogue as no. 11 Chèvre et ses petits and offered for 35 francs in the bronze edition and 6 francs in plaster (catalogue reproduced in "Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de L'École Française, Vol II", Stanislas Lami, p. 416-418).
The present model is a superb cast with incredible texture in the chaotic hair across her body and a distinctly impressionistic silky finish that is Fremiet mastered.
The base is quite simple with two young goat kids nursing and playing beneath their mother. It is loosely naturalistic and is deeply stamped "E. FREMIET" in the mold and has been beautifully captured by the bronze. A similar model circa 1859 that would probably have opposed the present model is depicted in Jane Horswell's "Les Animaliers" (1974, p. 198) and is held in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London - that model depicts a goat standing over his single kid goat and is roughly the same height at 7".
Measurements: 6 3/8" H x 3" D x 8 3/8" W
Condition Report:
Exceptional original condition. Very minor handing wear to patina. Cleaned, waxed and polished.