French Antique Bronze Sculpture of Mother Bear and Cubs by Paul Eduoard Delabrierre

A very nice sand-casting of Delabrierre’s Mother Bear and Her Cubs, this scarce model is perhaps his most endearing. Presumably being cast after his 1850 submission to the Paris Salon [no. 3306] of Famille d’ Ours, the model captures the distinctly human characteristics of the beast and her young. The larger cub sleeps on her withdrawn arm and shoulder with its head resting on an outstretched paw while the smaller sibling feeds off of his mother in the hollow formed by their bodies. The scene is spinning in a circular tumble of three intertwined bodies resting on a rough cave floor. The foundry marking verso of “D. et S.” is unknown to us, but another model by Delabrierre was also cast by the same foundry. While the detail is exquisite with very fine texturing of paws, claws, hair and noses – with particularly fine attention being shown to the uppermost bear cub and its facial features – the model is cold-tooled with a high degree of chiseling and foundry finishing work indicative of an older mold; this places the model casting date closer to circa 1900.

Unusual and quite difficult to find, this is a most pleasant look at the softer side of this powerful creature.

Measurements: 7″ H x 8 1/4″ diameter