John J. Gredler Works of Art

19th Century French Bronze Reclining Greyhound by Christopher Fratin, 1801-1864

19th Century French Bronze Reclining Greyhound by Christopher Fratin, 1801-1864

Circa 1850.      3.75" h  x  10.4" w  x  4.25" d

Very sensitive rendering of a greyhound at rest with a rich dark brown patina with lighter highlights showing through. The dog is shown reclining with one paw turned up, a detail I find endearing as a dog owner, my border collie does this too! Mounted on a polished black slate base, marked with a stamp Fratin used with a backwards 'N' (see below). Also stamped with the foundry mark 'Daubree, Editeur'. A fine desk top, shelf, or mantel piece for the dog lover.

Christopher Fratin (1 January 1801 – 16 August 1864), also known as Christophe Fratin, was a noted French sculptor in the animalier style, and one of the earliest French sculptors to portray animals in bronze. Fratin was born in Metz, Moselle, France the son of a taxidermist. He first studied drawing under Pioche in Metz and later worked in Paris at the studio of Théodore Géricault.

He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1831 to 1842 and 1850–1862, as well as at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. Fratin never signed his bronzes but instead used a stamp showing his last name in straight block letters. One of the stamps he used showed the “n” reversed, not by design but due to an error on the part of the maker of the stamp. Fratin received monumental commissions in France and elsewhere, including the Deux Aigles Gardant Leur Proie (Eagles and Prey, created 1850) displayed since 1863 in New York City’s Central Park. Today, Fratin’s sculpture is on permanent display in the Louvre, the city museums of Metz, Lyon, Strasbourg, Nîmes and at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. The Georg Eisler archive in Vienna also has on display works by Fratin.