A Fine Patinated Bronze Sporting Group, By Emmanuel Fremiet

Object Description

Emmanuel Frémiet (1824–1910)
Chevaux de Course et Jockeys (Two Racehorses and Jockeys)
France, circa 1910
Signed E. Frémiet; foundry mark F. Barbedienne

A finely cast and richly patinated bronze sporting group by the celebrated French animalier sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet, depicting two thoroughbred racehorses mounted by jockeys in spirited forward motion. The composition combines taut anatomical precision with vivid naturalism, hallmarks of Frémiet’s mature work and the scientific observation that distinguished his career.

Object History

The model was first shown at the Paris Salon of 1885 and again at the Exposition Universelle of 1889, where it was widely admired, later traveling to exhibitions in Antwerp and Copenhagen. Scholars have described it as one of the finest treatments of the racing subject in 19th-century animalier sculpture. Critic Jacques de Biez noted that Frémiet’s turf subjects transcended decoration, serving as historical and typological studies of the modern thoroughbred.

The master model is held in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon (inv. 4188). The Barbedienne foundry acquired the model in 1910 and cast a recorded edition of twenty-two bronzes in 1911–12, placing this example within a documented early series by France’s most prestigious art foundry.

Object Literature

Jacques de Biez, Un maître imagier : E. Frémiet, Paris, 1896, p.71.

J. Horswell, Bronze Sculpture of “Les Animaliers” Reference and Price Guide, Woodbridge, 1971, p.185.C. Chevillot, Emmanuel Fremiet: La main et le multiple, Dijon, 1988, S127, p. 95.

F. Rionnet, Les Bronzes Barbedienne, L’oeuvre d’une dynastie de fondeurs, Paris, 2015, p. 329, Cat. 828.

Object Details