CLICK HERE TO BUY BRONZE HORSE JOCKEY SIGNED BONHEUR DERBY FRENCH ON CANONBURY ANTIQUES
Bronze Horse Jockey Signed Bonheur Derby French
The horse and jockey is perhaps one of the most popular subjects in bronze art and right here we have one of the best examples we have seen. This is a later recasting of the famous ‘Winner of the Derby’ bronze by the artist Isidore Bonheur (1827-1901). The bronze is a fine brown cast for the horse and a darker brown for the jockey and base. The patina to it is fantastic and the piece is offered in perfect condition.
The jockey is depicted lovingly stroking the mare who it looks like is just about to break into a cantor. The piece is signed Bonheur on the base – please see close up picture.
This would appeal to horse collectors and lovers of all things equestrian everywhere. It would make for a beautiful decorative item for your home.
Isidore Jules Bonheur (1827 – 1901) was born on May 15th 1827 in Bordeaux, France. He was an important Animalier Sculptor, the brother of Rosa Bonheur and brother-in-law to Hippolyte Peyrol the founder. The Bonheur’s were a well known family of painters, sculptors, and artists. Isidore studied painting under the tutelage of his father at a very early age. He moved on to sculpture in 1848 with his first Salon entry of a plaster study of An African Horseman attacked by a Lion. Isidore Bonheur continued exhibiting his sculpture throughout the years, both at the Salon in Paris as well as The Royal Academy in London, and winning the Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889. Almost all of his and his sisters’ casts were produced by Hippolyte Peyrol whose extremely small (less than 1/16″) foundry mark is often very difficult to locate.
Isidore Bonheur’s bronzes range from domestic cattle and sheep, which he excelled at, to wild bears and lions as well as equestrian and hunting groups, all done in a very natural and realistic manner. Many of his bronzes were done as compliments to his sisters’ works. These sheep and cattle models by brother and sister were done as pairs. Though somewhat overshadowed by his flamboyant and outspoken elder sister Rosa, Isidore Bonheur was nevertheless was a highly accomplished sculptor and his works rank among the finest of the French Animalier school. The Perigueux Museum exhibits a life-size version of his eight point stag. Among the monuments that he cast were, his sister’s memorial statue at Fontainbleau completed in the last two years of his life, and two stone lions for the Palais de Justice. Isidore Bonheur’s Royal commissions extended beyond France where he was commissioned to produce two monumental Bulls for the Palace of the Sultan in Constantinople as well as works for King Edward VII of England. His bronze sculptures are always signed I. Bonheur and the earliest Peyrol casts from the late 1840’s are unmarked.
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