Originally, when we built our house; I only had one of the pair of the Madam DuBarry Sphinx. (See my blog post The Garden Sphinx) I found these delightful cast stone reproductions at Quatrain (an antique store in West Hollywood). Here is their description: “LOUIS XIII STYLE CAST STONE HOUNDS . The original early Baroque examples are from the famed walls surrounding the Chateau de Raray near the ancient town of Senlis, France. On either side of the Chateau stand two long walls of stone upon which hunt two packs of hounds; one bringing a stag to bay, the other a wild boar. Certainly a reflection of the many centuries of hunts that have taken place thanks to the immense royal forests of Chantilly, Halatte and, to the North, Compiegne.”
“Dog Scratching” on the left, ”Dog Barking” on the right!
They have weathered to a lovely patina.
From this magnificent wall of seventeenth century dogs and a stag came the original statues!
Casts were made; and reproductions are now made of cast limestone. Now they are available! I love them!
They are more interesting to me than a matching pair!
7 Responses
Joan
for the love of a house
they are Fabulous! I adore them. If they ever go missing I suggest looking at my house first;)
joan
Aug 19, 2011 @ 1:45 am
callie grayson
Oh! I love these! completely love them! They remind me of my pup!!
xx
callie
Aug 19, 2011 @ 2:44 am
Bette
Penelope,
I think they’re divine! They really come to life in the garden and remain alive for a long time. Interesting history.
Aug 19, 2011 @ 3:33 am
penelopebi
what a wonderful thought! It is a way to keep a dog alive in your world…….a statue of that dog! I do adore these dogs…….and I adore that these dogs were immortalized in the 17th(?) century! and I have them at my house! I really do love that!
Aug 19, 2011 @ 8:41 am
penelopebi
I will help you carry them!!!
Aug 19, 2011 @ 8:42 am
Tracey Jackson
That wall!!! Holy Moly. Amazing! Thank you for posting this. You have such an interesting eye.xxx T
Aug 19, 2011 @ 9:13 pm
Karen
The wall with the dogs and stag are spectacular. As a dog person I would love the scratching dog, so cute.
Karen
Aug 19, 2011 @ 9:32 pm
Cathy Tyner
Fascinating! You always have the best dogs…
whether statues and/or live….with genealogy/history
to match!
Love learning through YOU & yours!
Thanks for sharing!!!
XO
Cathy
Aug 19, 2011 @ 10:17 pm
Heather in Arles
Hello Penelope and thank you, as always, for an inspiring post! Senlis is such an incredibly beautiful town with its beautiful chateaus and medieval architecture still intact. I love that these bad boys came from there and that they are so appreciated chez vous.
Bon weekend!
Aug 20, 2011 @ 8:24 am
Bob Schulenberg
Dear Penny:
the blog is perfect – a total reflection of you which should be the goal of a blog!
And did you know that the Raray dogs are featured in the 1940s Jean Cocteau film “Beauty and the Beast” (“La Belle et la Bete” that inspired the Disney version but without the dogs)? There is a house high up on a side street in LA’s Laurel Canyon that has duplicated the wall but I can’t remember if the stags are included. The dogs are there though.
Again, the bolg is perfect.
Sep 06, 2011 @ 2:02 amte
Penelope, I love Quatrain and have used some of their chairs in my work. These dogs of theirs I have always coveted! Love seeming them in you gardens. pgt
These dogs (and stags) are so magnificent and whimsical at the same time! I love them! Perfectly French….. just lovely!
Happy I’ve finally been able to read your post! Last weekend whenever I made an effort to view the weblog post in Internet Explorer I ended up with a timeout error. Brilliant to discover that your weblog is back up and running again. All the best; Khalilah writing from Freiburg, Baden-Wurttemberg
Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is a really well written article. I’ll make sure to bookmark it and return to read more of Penelope Bianchi of McCormick Interiors » I promised the pictures of the dogs! the stone ones! Here they are!! . Thanks for the post. I will certainly return.
Hi Penelope: The wall of the hunt is truly magnificent. I have never seen an image of it, so I greatly enjoyed learning of it this cold evening in N.C.
Best,
Liz
I love hearing from you!!!
Penelope