Sitting Panther, 1906

The Sitting Panther by the Austrian sculptor Franz Barwig the Elder (1868–1931), its head slightly cocked to one side, appears in a state of high alert. The animal’s front legs are extended, while the area of the neck and shoulders, with its pronounced muscles, is tensed. Still in a poised position, the panther seems ready at any moment to leap off its plinth to attack its prey. Barwig the Elder, a graduate of the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, who later taught there as a professor, developed a keen interest in animal depictions. At Schönbrunn Zoo, he studied various animal species, their movements and physiognomies. Contrary to a panther’s actual black color, the sculptor opted for ceramics with a white glaze, which invests the animal sculpture with an esthetic, stylized appearance.

AK, 2023