Lot 58: COMTE HENRI-GEOFFROY DE LA PLANCHE DE RUILLÉ (1842-1922), A BRONZE EQUESTRIAN FIGURE OF EMPEROR NICHOLAS II, CIRCA 1900

COMTE HENRI-GEOFFROY DE LA PLANCHE DE RUILLÉ (1842-1922), A BRONZE EQUESTRIAN FIGURE OF EMPEROR NICHOLAS II, CIRCA 1900 depicting Emperor Nicholas II in military uniform, seated on a horse, set on a malachite plinth inscribed with signature length 18 in. 45.7 cm A Bronze Equestrian Figure of Emperor Nicholas II

Comte Geoffroy de Ruillé, as he is more commonly known, was born in Angers in 1842 and exhibited at the Salon between 1884 and 1921. He was clearly as talented a horseman as he was sculptor, for a painting by René Princeteau (1849-1914) in the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi, entitled Le Comte Geoffroy de Ruillé chassant à courre avec son fils à ses côtés, shows him at full gallop across a field with the Château de Gallerande, the family estate, behind him. De Ruillé's Salon submissions were exclusively equestrian and were cast in very limited editions; they appear rarely on the market.