Pointer and Ducks
modeled between 1824 and 1826
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
4 × 5 5/8 in. (10.2 × 14.3 cm)
Classification
Medals and Plaquettes
Culture
French
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1912
Accession Number
12.149.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
Antoine-Louis Barye *Pointer and Ducks*, modeled between 1824 and1826, is a bronze plaquette measuring just 4 × 5 5/8 inches. This small-scale relief sculpture captures a tense hunting moment: a sleek pointer dog frozen in mid-point, alert to a pair of ducks nearby. Classified among medals and plaquettes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s European Sculpture and Decorative Arts collection, it exemplifies Barye’s early mastery of bronze casting, a medium that allowed for intricate details and a rich patina that enhances the naturalistic forms over time. As a pioneer of the animalier style in F...
About the Artist
Antoine-Louis Barye · 1795–1875
Antoine-Louis Barye (1795–1875) was born in Paris on September 24, the son of goldsmith Pierre Barye and Marguerite Barye. Following family tradition, he apprenticed as a goldsmith under his father and, around 1810, with Martin-Guillaume Biennais, goldsmith to Napoleon. After brief military service, Barye pursued sculpture, studying under François-Joseph Bosio in 1816 and painter Baron Antoine-Jea...