A FRENCH GILT AND POLYCHROME PATINATED BRONZE GROUP OF AN ARAB HUNTER, ENTITLED 'KABYLE AU RETOUR DE LA CHASSE'

Born in East Prussia (now Lithuania), Arthur Waagen (d. 1898) pursued his career as a sculptor in Paris where he set up his studio at 40, Cours-de-Vincennes. He was renowned for his fine and realistic modelling, and produced a series of groups with a North African flavour, exhibiting at the Salon from 1869 to 1887. The present group of a Berber tribesman, also known as Chasseur arabe or Cavalier aux chiens, was conceived circa 1870. A fine example of the Orientalist genre, it is the artist's most prominent and successful model. Another cast is in the Dahesh Museum, New York.