Russian School 19th/20th Century, A CAST IRON BULL, "Bovine Companion," SIGNED, LATE 19TH CENTURY, patinated in shades of brown and nicely cast as a bull with body revealing ribs and back hind quarters while head gently raised with idealized features, standing on a rectangular block base and underside with molded artist's Cyrillic name in a rectangular panel, beneath the Kasli Foundry molded Cyrillic mark and numbers, under the front/back sides of an 1870 molded Tsar Alexander II period award medallion. Height: 12 1/2" Length: 6" Depth: 17" Note: The Kasli Iron Works Foundry was originally founded by a Russian industrialist Yakov Korobkov in 1745 in the Kasli settlement located in the Ural Mountains and far from Moscow (over 1,000 miles). This plant supplied military needs but when military orders were low they made good quality household items such as cookwares and the necessary accoutrements. By the 1820s a factory manager Zotov bought Berlin cast iron sculptures and this started the artistic side of the factory allowing the artist workers to learn the skills and styles needed to be a success. This was followed in 1855 by the hiring of the first professionally trained and educated sculptor Mikhail Kanayev, a graduate of the Imperial Academy of Arts. His hiring led to Kasli's fame for its' interior sculptures and this combined with additions by other famous artists led to the selection growing from about 20 to over 800 today. Additionally, the plant's methods and use of fine iron in the casting leaves an unusually smooth surface and fine details not normally found in cast iron sculptures as evidenced in the lot offered here. Over the years the Imperial Court ordered furnishings and fine cast iron architectural embellishments as well as sculptures that can still be found throughout St. Petersburg. Their fame spread the world over for their quality and unique style which led to winning numerous gold/silver medals in various exhibitions during the second half of the 19th century. By 1900 at the historical Paris World Exhibition, they were awarded gold/silver medals and it is interesting to note that the entire cast iron Kasli pavilion designed by the architect Yevgeny Baumgarten and erected at that exhibition has been faithfully restored and can be seen today at the Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts. Over the years, even through the Soviet era, the casting traditions were passed down through the Semyon Gilyov family and today his great grandson can be found continuing this tradition.

Some occasional surface scratches, surface patina, rust oxidation, some paint spray/surface buildup.