"in The Ruins" Bronze, Gardet Georges (paris, 1863 - Paris, 1939)

“In the Ruins”, large beautiful bronze with brown and gold sheen representing the meeting of a tiger and a Foo dog (dog of the Chinese Buddha) in the jungle. Signed and marked for Barbedienne Fondeur in Paris. Red Marble base. Very pretty original patina.

Size: H 35cm x W 63,5 cm x D 20cm

French school of the early 20th century.

Lit: Foo dogs are imperial guardian lions, they are a traditional Chinese architectural ornament. Typically made of stone, they are also known as stone lions or shishi.

Lit: Georges Gardet is the son of the sculptor Joseph Gardet and the brother of the sculptor Joseph-Antoine Gardet. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the workshops of Aimé Millet and Emmanuel Frémiet. He is a member of the Academy of Fine Arts and the Society of French Artists. Georges Gardet participates in the Salon de Paris at the age of twenty and won his first success in 1891 with “Drama in the desert”. He receives many orders from wealthy clients for “portraits” of their pets or to decorate their garden or home. He creates plasters often translated in bronze as well as marbles. Some of his works will be replicated in biscuits at the Sèvres manufactory. Georges Gardet became an officer of the Legion of Honour in 1900. He made the two marble groups of lions with child decorating the Alexandre III bridge in Paris. He is considered one of the greatest artists of the French school of animal sculptors.