The Steeplechaser

Bonheur created several powerful variations on the quintessentially English steeplechase theme. The present depiction of a solo horse and jockey taking a brushwood fence represents one third of his monumental group referred to as La Saut de la haie (S. Lami, Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de l'Ecole Français au dix-neuvième siècle, Paris, 1914, vol. V, p. 129). The plaster model for the latter was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1882 (no. 4132), the bronze in 1884 (no. 3301), and the bronze again at the Exposition universelle in 1889 (see Christie's New York, December 8 2005, lot 72 for an example). Capitalising on the success of his original group of three steeplechasers, Bonheur subsequently produced simplified versions featuring both two (see Christie's New York, 5 December 2003, lot 33) and, as here, just one of the horses and jockeys. Editions of each group were cast in varying sizes by the eminent Parisian founder, Hippolyte Peyrol, who was married to Bonheur's sister Juliette.