Prosper LECOURTIER (after) - "Roaring lions", pair of stone garden statues

This important pair of garden statues represents two roaring lions carved out of stone, made after the famous model by the animal sculptor Prosper Lecourtier. *
Shown in movement, the open den which let us imagine a powerful roar, these lions are represented with realism.
They rest on bases with winding.

Prosper Lecourtier is an animal sculptor born in 1851 in the Meuse region. He was Emmanuel Frémiet's student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and he inherits from his master a strong taste for wildlife.
The model of the Roaring Lions is the best known model by Prosper Lecourtier, published in bronze many times. There is also a bronze version of this lion at the Museum of Art and Archeology in Guéret.
It is much rarer to see these roaring lions carved out of stone, as it is for our garden statues. The only other known example is a marble version that decorates Parque Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil.
The great novelty brought by our lions is the design in pairs, symmetrically, which seems to be quite original.