
Michael Lake
Head of Department
This auction has ended. View lot details
£800 - £1,200

Head of Department
This bronze is a reduction of the statue of Louis d'Orléans équestre commissioned by the French State for the courtyard of the Château de Pierrefonds in 1869.
As the youngest son of King Charles V of France, Louis d'Orléans (1372-1407) received by royal prerogative the Duchy of Touraine and to strengthen his territory built a fortress at Pierrefonds.
Besieged in the 17th century and left as a romantic ruin for two centuries, the Château de Pierrefonds was a cause célèbre of Napoleon III who pursued a program of restoration that was subsumed by the creation of an Imperial Residence which leaves the château today very much a 19th century imagining of a medieval castle. The restorations included the commissioning of Louis d'Orléans équestre, of which reductions were edited by the Barbedienne foundry in three sizes.
Please note that this lot is withdrawn.