Gaston d'Illiers Early 1900's Bronze Horse Statue

Description

DIMENSIONS
Base- 7.75" long x 3" wide
Height bottom to top ear- 7.5"
Wide-Base to tip of nose- 8.5"
Depth- 2 7/8 inches
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Gaston d'Illiers (1876–1932), born at Boulogne-sur-Seine, France, was a French animalier sculptor who specialised in horses. His bronze statuettes are very realistic.
Gaston d'Illiers devoted all his life to his two passions: horses and sculpture. He was a very fine rider and showed a deep knowledge of horses. He decided to become a sculptor and took to modelling horses.
During his life, d'Illiers created around 200 statues. They are all of small size, less than half a meter in each of the 3 dimensions. He modelled them in wax or plaster. The models were then molded to produce a limited number of statues in bronze.
Most of the models were damaged during World War II.The existing bronze statues are kept by the owners, who seldom sell them. The appearance of a Gaston d'Illiers statue in a sale or a shop is therefore a rare event.
THIS PARTICULAR HORSE
This sculpture is from the estate of a wealthy San Francisco socialite. Cared for greatly and condition is reflected. The statue is screwed into a wood base and affixed with a felt bottom.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions!