Antique French Silvered Bronze Stag Bookends on Marble BasesFrench Animalier School, Early 20th Century

DETAILS:
Size: each — Height 10.5 cm (4.1 in) · Base 13 × 7.5 cm (5.1 × 3 in) — each roughly the height of a standard hardcover book lying flat
Material: silvered bronze figures; rose-veined marble bases
Style/Period: French animalier school, early 20th century
Weight: 2.313 kg the pair (5.1 lb)
Shipping: professionally packed, fully insured, worldwide
Condition: very good; silvering sound across both figures; marble bases firm and unchipped; light honest wear consistent with use
Returns: accepted within 30 days

The reclining stag was one of the animalier school's most considered subjects. Where the bellowing stag at the rut demanded drama and the stag at the gallop demanded speed, the reclining animal demanded something harder: stillness that reads as life, repose that carries the suggestion of alertness. The best animalier sculptors understood that a deer lying down is not a deer at rest — it is a deer that has chosen, for the moment, to be still, and that can be on its feet in a second. Getting that quality into a static bronze required the kind of observation that only comes from time spent watching the actual animal.

This pair is French, early twentieth century, each bookend modelled as a reclining stag in silvered bronze — forelegs folded, hindquarters to one side, the head raised and turned slightly outward, antlers carried with the easy authority of a mature animal. The silvering gives the figures a cool, precise finish that reads well against the warm rose-veined marble of the rectangular bases — the colour contrast between metal and stone doing the work that a more elaborate composition would achieve with ornament. Note how the two stags mirror each other: one turning left, one turning right, the facing composition that makes a pair of bookends work as a unified object when a book stands between them. The modelling of the neck and chest is confident — the musculature present but not overstated, the coat suggested by surface texture rather than individual hair-by-hair engraving, the economy of a sculptor working at a scale where restraint reads better than detail.

They arrive professionally packed and fully insured. Returns are accepted within 30 days.

Condition

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A decorative style is not a guarantee of a particular maker or date. See the individual listing for the stated attribution and period.

Worldwide delivery is included in the price. Every piece is individually packed, tracked and fully insured. No shipping charge is added at checkout. If your destination is not listed, please contact us before ordering.

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Delivery information

Notify us within 30 days of delivery if you wish to return a piece. No reason is required. Returns are free within the Netherlands and Belgium; from elsewhere you pay return shipping for a change-of-mind return.

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