Following models by Vasili Grachev

VASILI GRACHEV (Russia, 1831-1905).
"The milepost".
Bronze.
Cast by C.F. Woerffel, St. Petersburg, 1877.
Signed on the base in Cyrillic "LBP GRACHEV."
With seal of the Ministry of Finance dated 1877.
Measurements: 52 x 30 x 26 cm.

Sculptural group of remarkable quality versioning a famous bronze sculpture by Vasili Grachev entitled "The milepost". The bronze depicts a traditional Russian carriage, known as a troika, pulled by three rearing horses, which in their gallop seem to be fighting a snowstorm. The driver and two passengers are riding in the carriage. It can be seen in the postures of the figures that they are passing over a bumpy road. This high quality hot-cast solid bronze was produced by the traditional lost wax process. The material stands out for the fine work of textures and qualities: the skin of the ushanka, the expressive faces, the equine anatomy.... This is an outstanding exponent of the Russian realist school.

Vasily Yakovlevich Grachev was a Russian sculptor of the 19th century. His sculptures capture with unusual verism the movement and action of the scenes, which earned him fame. Grachev was the main competitor of Eugene Lanceray. He stopped modeling after Lanceray's death in 1886. Both made a great contribution to Russian sculptural art by competing and inspiring each other. Grachev cast all his works at the Woerffel foundry in St. Petersburg.

The record price for a sculpture with the theme "Troika" is $57,940 at Christie's in 2010.