"It all started for me nearly 25 years ago when my husband gave me a baby rabbit called Beryl - a house rabbit - and unlike our hutch-bound rabbits as a child, Beryl was to be free-range. This turns out to be the key to knowing rabbits. Once I learned to understand his myriad behaviours, all reflecting his innate instincts despite living in a home (he slept on the sofa), the world of rabbit sculpture also opened up before me.

"In this auspicious Chinese Year of The Rabbit, the time has come for me to find new homes for my collection, and I feel it is a good time to release my collection of bronzes into the world. I hope they find collectors who appreciate and cherish them as much as I have done.”

Imogen Paine's Top Picks

No. 1

Lot 582: λ David Mesly (French, 1918-2004), a large and rare limited edition bronze model of a rabbit, 20th century | Est. £2,000-4,000 (+ fees)

"With the minimum amount of detail, Mesly captures perfectly a relaxed rabbit. This work is very like that of Edouard Marcel Sandoz, my favourite sculptor and one whose work representing all animals I continue to collect. Unlike the realism of the 19thc Animaliers Mesly has added no chased detail whatsoever, just a beautiful smooth finish where it is the light playing over that which creates the perfect form."

No. 2

Lot 489: Ferdinand Pautrot (French, 1832-1874), a bronze model of a rabbit, 19th century, French | Est. £300-500 (+ fees)

"I still remember when my mother took me to the Albertina Museum in Vienna especially to see Dürer’s watercolour ‘Young Hare’ as I was so smitten by it. This bronze, albeit a Flemish Rabbit, always reminds me of that picture with its folds of flesh and fur. This is an excellent thin wax casting which has captured the effect of the rabbit’s fur without any added chased detail."

No. 3

Lot 486: Charles Gremion (French, 19th/20th Century), a bronze model of a hare grooming, 19th century | Est. £250-350 (+ fees)

"Charles Gremion is an animalier sculptor I had never heard of before starting to search for rabbits and it turns out he was very very good at them (and dogs!). My love of rabbits always encompassed hares as well, despite their lives in the wild being quite different. Hares solitary and living above ground; rabbits living underground and in large social groups. Since moving to Oxfordshire we now live surrounded by hares and my love of them only grows. Living very rurally surrounded by working farms we are a haven for mother hares hiding their leverets and I have hours of footage of them – including one brave little fellow who tried boxing my Continental Giant rabbits through the fence of their run! Four of my houserabbits are Belgian hares – actually rabbits bred to look like hares – and I now wouldn’t be without one. Gremion here captures so naturally the exact stance of a hare (Belgian or wild) grooming its back paw. I look at this bronze and see what I see every day around the house."

No. 4

Lot 547: λ Andre Vincent Becquerel (French, 1893-1981), a bronze model of a leaping hare, early 20th century | Est. £800-1,200 (+ fees)

"Another hare, and unlike the Gremion, a hare looking far more like one is likely to see in the wild – running away! The abstraction of its form and perfect balance create a beautiful line which almost undulates, adding to the sense of forward motion. Very similar qualities can be seen in Lot 548, his Somersaulting Hare."

No. 5

Lot 585: Brenda Putnam (American, 1890-1975), a set of three bronze rabbits, 20th century | Est. £400-600 (+ fees)

"Back to houserabbits. The movement towards keeping rabbits as house pets rather than stuck in hutches in the shed or garden began in America. American animalier sculpture reflects this. With the wild realism of the 19^th century animaliers, the animals were largely portrayed in action, with the effective capturing of that action being a main driver of subject choice – hunting, fighting, devouring etc. Now we see these rabbits not crouching in fear or in the jaw of a hound but super relaxed. I would wager Putnam had houserabbits – these are not poses that wild rabbits are seen adopting in the presence of predators."

No. 6

Lot 561: λ Guido Righetti (Italian, 1875-1958), a rare bronze model ‘Lièvre Assis’, 20th century | Est. £6,000-8,000 (+ fees)

"As with Putnam’s rabbits, here Righetti depicts a hare ‘Meerkating’ as it is now known thanks to the car insurance ads. Whilst Putnam’s rabbit is undoubtedly looking for a snippet of carrot or a biscuit as houserabbits do, Righetti’s hare’s stance reflects the original prey animal reaction to potential danger – standing sentry. It looks like it will thump its back leg any moment to warn of the danger. It is a wonderfully tactile piece, as waxy as its casting technique. The sadness is that Righetti’s promising career as a sculptor was derailed by war and he never really accomplished in his lifetime the success he deserved and is now realising. I love that this piece was bought by Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, who was well known for her passion for chickens. This shows her eye for animals and good art was not limited to chickens. I worked for many summers at Chatsworth on the Sotheby’s ‘Beyond Limits’ exhibitions restoring monumental modern sculptures where needed, and from the estate workers to the local taxi drivers she was universally loved."

No. 7

Lot 532: Louis Theophile Hingre (French, 1832-1911), a rare bronze model of a giant lop eared rabbit late, 19th century | Est. £1,500-2,500 (+ fees)

"This was one of my earliest purchases when I started collecting rabbits and I think is another nod to my slight obsession with Dürer’s Young Hare, albeit fully lop eared. Like the F. Pautrot (Lot 489), this is a Flemish Giant rabbit. I rescue many giant breed rabbits above all to stop them being rehomed in too small an environment or, God forbid, a hutch. One came many years ago, found wandering around South London with a ring around her leg, rather like a pigeon. It was stamped BRC08***8 (I still have it). It turned out to be her registration with the British Rabbit Council… clever Dorothy had escaped a life of being bred for her fur and being shown at ‘The Fancy’, the 200 year old show tradition for breeders seeking ever more perfect breed standards (the cast offs are what fill the pet shops...) This is a brilliant portrayal of a large rabbit, relaxed and looking like it would lumber if it got up, perhaps not surprisingly. The modelling and casting is superb and I have never seen another one."

No. 8

Lot 544: Georges Gardet (French, 1863-1939), a rare gilt bronze model of a seated hare, 19th century | Est. £2,500-4,000 (+ fees)

"This is a piece which represents well 19^th century French animalier sculpture and the fine casting of Ferdinand Barbedienne who did so much of their work. It is a perfectly observed watchful hare. Marble bases on 19^th century animalier bronzes can raise a bit of a red flag. Many are cast with integral bronze bases with nothing, or a wood base under. Marble bases can be added to modern ‘surmoulages’ to cover the telltale underside which is part of the key to dating a cast. Here though the bronze is presented as something of a treasure – gilt patina, grass green marble base under and finished with a perfect bronze bottom plate to protect the marble from chipping and to balance with the patina. See also Lots 450,451,452 & 490."

No. 9

Lot 556: λ Marguerite Monot (French, 1903-1961), a large terracotta group of rabbit with kits, mid 20th century | Est. £2,000-4,000 (+ fees)

"Terracotta is a favourite medium of mine in sculpture generally, but is much less commonly seen in the work of animaliers. The more immediate sense of the modelling and warmth of the tone of the material lend themselves well to this group of a mother and her kits. She appears to have three but a fourth one is peeking out from underneath her at the back! It is beautifully observed with the short eared, short nosed nubbiness of baby rabbits. It’s a substantial size and quite a statement piece, unusually also by a female sculptor."

No. 10

Lot 564: λ Pierre-Robert Christophe (French, 1880-1971) a rare bronze group of seven rabbits, 20th century French cire perdue cast, signed | Est. £2,000-4,000 (+ fees)

"Seven rabbits crammed into one sculpture… what’s not to love??!!"

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Auction Details

Tuesday 27 & Wednesday 28 June | 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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