Unmarked Silver | Running Greyhound Figurine | Hand-Cast | Date Unconfirmed

Unmarked Silver | Running Greyhound Figurine | Hand-Cast | Date Unconfirmed

A greyhound at full stretch is all line and no weight, which may be why sculptors keep trying to hold one still.

Greyhounds have long appeared in sporting and decorative sculpture, their narrow bodies and extended limbs lending themselves to representations of movement. Small silver figures of running hounds were made as cabinet ornaments from the nineteenth century onwards and throughout the twentieth. This example shows the greyhound at full gallop, forelegs reaching forward and hindlegs stretched out behind.

The figure is cast in the round. The head has the long, narrow muzzle, small eye and folded rose ear of the breed. The neck stretches forward into the stride, and the body is long and lean, with a deep chest, tucked-up belly and the hip bones showing beneath the coat. Fine surface detailing describes the coat across the shoulders, ribs and haunches, and continues along the long, tapering tail. The underside is more simply finished, with the casting seam and some unevenness from casting visible along the belly and inner legs.

The silver has been tested, but the figure carries no hallmarks or maker's mark, so its fineness is unconfirmed. It is also undated: its naturalistic modelling follows the tradition of silver sporting-animal figures, but without marks or documented provenance no reliable date can be given.

There is no pitting, splitting or repair. The figure stands on its four feet on a flat surface.

Key Details

• Maker: Unidentified — no maker's mark
• Material: Silver, tested; unmarked and of unconfirmed fineness
• Form: Running greyhound figure, cast in the round
• Decoration: Finely worked coat texture and naturalistic modelling
• Date: Unconfirmed
• Dimensions: 9.7cm L × 1cm W × 3.7cm H
• Weight: 36g
• Condition: Very good — no pitting, splits or repairs; casting unevenness to the underside

Collector Appeal

A small cast-silver greyhound in the full-gallop pose, with the coat worked all over and the lean anatomy of the breed clearly modelled. At 36 grams it is a solid piece of silver for its size, suited to a cabinet or a collection of silver animals.

Nothing about a greyhound is wasted, and the silversmith has left nothing out.