Centerpiece in Gilt Bronze with Monkeys by C.Fratin 19th c.

Christophe Fratin (1801-1864) was a very famous French animal sculptor who exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1831–1842 and 1850-1862,and at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851.  He is well-known by Americans for his famous masterpiece sculpture "Eagles and Prey", exhibited in New York Central Park since 1863. He realized several other very famous masterpieces: he worked in the inner part and several sculptures at the château de Dampierre for the Duc de Luynes, he made romantic groups of sculptures at the Postdam Sans-Souci castle and Babelsberg castle in Germany ; he worked at the Saint-Petersburg park of the Russian emperor and he designed a pediment depicting "The Hunt" in 1855 for Visconti courtyard in Louvre museum, French kings former palace. He is on displayed in many museums such as Louvre, Metz, Lyon, etc. and even in London Wallace collection