Jane Short Antiques has dated this piece to the 19th Century.
This is a very interesting and unusual composition depicting a monkey studying maps and history.
. On the floor is a book inscribed "Histoire Naturelle du Singe" This was a book written by Jean Baptiste Auderbert (1759 1800) who had travelled the world discovering and illustrating primates.
So perhaps this is a monkey who wishes to travel to discover his own species or perhaps the bronze is a more satirical work describing the time when Darwin was about to pen his 'Origin of the Species" A theory which at the time was thought by most people to be heretical.
This is a very detailed and beautifully cast bronze and too complicated to have been cast from just one mould. After a lot of research I have not been unable to find another and propose that this could have been a one-off.
It is signed in the typical style of Bayre and dated 1845.
It stands on its original rose marble base.
We can deliver free of charge in UIK
Payment by bank transfer or PayPal
Jane Short Antiques has dated this piece to the 19th Century.
30 years of expertise in 17th- to early 20th-century furniture and fine art
You can view the stock and full dealer information on the Jane Short Antiques Profile Page
Bronze By Antoine-Louis Barye (1795-1875)
