Bronze Cat And Mouse Signed Fratin

Small bronze mounted on a blackened wooden base, signed Fratin, Cat playing with a mouse. Sculptor born in Metz in 1801 after studying at the Free School of Drawing in Metz, he says, out of a shared taste for horses, a student of Carle Vernet and Théodore Géricault in Paris. From 1831, he exhibited regularly at the Salon, except in 1832 due to a cholera epidemic. During these Salons, he rubbed shoulders with Barye, who successively established himself with the Tiger devouring a Gavial in 1831, and his monumental Lion with a Serpent in 1833, thus leaving, for these two years, Fratin in the shadows. He ended up finding success and esteem there: the reviews were laudatory, his works sold well. The sculptor's repeated successes at the Salons of 1834, 1835 and 1836 aroused the interest of the aristocracy. Thus he worked at the Château de Dampierre for the Duke of Luynes, Fratin, who excelled in the creation of decorative objects, provided four small pieces for the creation of a princely table top, of which Barye was the main craftsman. Fratin's audience quickly became international: he left for England between 1833 and 1834. The artist also created large romantic groups in Potsdam at the Sans-Souci and Babelsberg castles, where some are still to be found. Romanticism clearly shines through in his subjects, where the horse plays an important role. It was really in 1835 that the editions of Fratin's bronzes began, mainly cast in the Quesnel workshops. Fratin was thus one of the first – if not the first – to launch into publishing sculpture. But from 1837, the Salon became hostile to the young romantic generation and Fratin's participation was reduced to his very beautiful broodmare. He did not appear the following year and during the 1840s, shipments to the Salons were refused, as a result orders began to fail. The artist's career seems to be changing and the financial difficulties are becoming preponderant. The sculptor then focused on editions and the creation of small models “for commerce”. In 1849, following significant financial difficulties, Fratin organized in Paris the first public sale without reproduction rights of 450 of his models, which attests to the great production of the artist between 1831 and 1849. In 1850, Fratin left staying in Vétheuil until 1854. From there, he organized his second sale, which took place from April 16 to 18. This sale mainly consists of bronze models with reproduction rights (which therefore means that Fratin renounced the exploitation of these works). It is specified in the catalog that these are the “complete works of the author”. The sale must have been a failure since in 1851 the unsold items from 1850 were offered again under the same conditions. With the exception of a few years of respite – due to orders received – Christophe Fratin organized this type of sale every year. One of them, the seventh, was the first made entirely of terracotta. Surely the originals of his previous models which he wanted to get rid of, probably to devote himself to new works. The other sales will be organized on an annual basis until the death of the artist on August 17, 1864 in Raincy (Seine et Oise). His sixteenth and final (posthumous) sale followed on December 20 and 21 of that year.