A fine bronze sculpture of a polo player about to strike a ball, his pony rearing, on a black bronze sôcle, signed in the bronze, French, circa 1955. Exhibited: The Horse in Bronze, Maison la Fitte, Paris 2001.

Yvan Benoist-Gironière (French, b. 1930) began drawing and sketching horses as a young child, guided by his father, Charles Benoist-Gironière, himself an equestrian artist of note and author of ‘l’Art de Cheval’ published in 1950. Yvan sculpted his first bronze in his teens and enjoys a lifelong reputation as artist, designer and sculptor. He is the author and illustrator of the major work Almanach Hachette du Cavalier Yvan Benoist-Gironière, published by Hachette in 1979, and in 2005, his book Cheval: mon beau souci was published containing 500 of his sketches and illustrations.

Height overall: 14 in. (36 cm).