Rare Ocelot And Heron Gold FB Special Barye Barbedienne Foundry Edition

The gold 'FB' marking was a special edition that was produced immediately after Barye's death in honour of his creative genius and these casts are of the highest quality from the famous Barbedienne foundry. This accolade is popular with collectors and generally more than doubles the value of the 'normal' Barbedienne bronze casts. We have to thank our friend and bronze expert David Hickmet of the U.K. for sharing his knowledge of Barye Bronzes and explaining the meaning of the Gold FB on this and the other Barye Bronze we have. We searched all the auction records for this model Barye Barbedienne bronze with gold marked FB Ocelot carrying off a heron and could not find another one like it sold at auction. One sold no FB in gold lot # 193 at Sotheby's in Paris not a Barbedienne edition on 10/26/2011 for $20,766, another sold at Christies not a Barbediennne example on 4/25/2003 for $20,315. The condition is excellent I doubt a finer example exists. This offering represents a once in a lifetime opportunity for the serious Barye collector to acquire this Barbedienne edition with the gold FB. The Ocelot measures 12 inches long, widest width from the herons wing across to the bottom of the base just under 6-1/2 inches, height 7 inches weight 7.8 pounds. The condition is excellent.