Large Silvered Bronze Duck, Standing with Head Raised, French Work, circa 1970

This magnificent silvered bronze duck is the largest and most imposing piece of the three-part set. Where the smaller ducks capture the bird in movement — waddling, feeding — this figure presents it at its most alert and commanding: standing perfectly upright, neck stretched to its full height, head thrown back and beak wide open as if in full cry. It is the posture of a bird fully engaged with the world around it, and the sculptor has captured it with exceptional authority. At 34 cm in height and 40 cm from beak to tail, the piece has a real physical presence that makes it a focal point in any setting.

The silvered bronze surface is worked with the same meticulous chiselled feather detail as its companions, but here the larger scale allows the sculptor’s hand to be seen with particular clarity: the individual feather groups of the breast, the layered coverts of the wings, the textured patterns of the back — all are rendered with a care that rewards close examination. The play of silvered light across the standing form, with its multiple upward-facing planes, is especially beautiful, giving the bird a lustrous, almost metallic vitality.

The three ducks together form one of the most charming decorative ensembles in the French animalier tradition: three attitudes, three scales, three moods — the alert sentinel, the foraging feeder, the lively strider — combining to suggest the full life of the farmyard or the riverbank. This largest piece anchors the group as its natural centrepiece, but is equally impressive displayed in isolation on a mantelpiece, a console, or a library shelf.

An exceptional piece of French decorative animalier sculpture, with superb surface quality and commanding presence. Dimensions: W. 40 × D. 16.5 × H. 34 cm.