Purchased from the Walt and Mary Lawrence Youree collection in May 1989 for $3,200 (reported). This is one of the foundational pieces in the present collection — explicitly identified by the owner as among "the originals," in the company of Miss Monique (ID 088), Tunya, Robert, and Lightning (reported). The acquisition is contemporary with the Youree-sourced Armitage-Herschell jumper (ID 004, also May 1989) and predates the Youree-sourced Ortega giraffe (ID 002, 1988). Whether the rabbit was purchased on the same visit as the Armitage-Herschell or on a separate occasion has not been documented.

• Walt and Mary Lawrence Youree collection — Oregon City, Oregon, until May 1989. The Yourees were renowned collectors and the source of multiple foundational pieces in this collection (IDs 002, 004, 054, 086, 088). Walt Youree (1915–2001) is memorialized on CarouselHistory.com; portions of the Youree holdings were later donated to the American Folk Art Museum (sourced — CarouselHistory.com).

• Prior to the Youree collection: Not documented. The likely chain — a Bayol juvenile-carousel rabbit imported to the United States from a French fairground, dealer, or family of showmen — is plausible but unverified. The Drew Pritchard Ltd. comparable (see below) shows that intact sets of Bayol juvenile rabbits were sometimes acquired in groups directly from the showman families who commissioned them, which is one of the documented paths Bayol juvenile figures take onto the international market.

The attribution to Gustave Bayol of Angers is the owner's reported maker identification (reported) and is strongly supported by every documentable visual characteristic of the figure. The pose, scale, fur-texturing convention, simple early-period trappings, juvenile carousel format, glass-eye treatment, and the cream/red/teal palette are all consistent with documented Bayol juvenile rabbit production (inferred from sourced records).

Bayol opened his Angers workshop in 1884 after his military service, identifying a French market gap previously filled by German imports, and built his reputation on farmyard animals — pigs, cows, donkeys, rabbits — drawn from rural French life. By 1909 his operation was at peak; in that year he sold the factory to three members of his workforce — Coquereau, Chailloux, and Maréchal — though Bayol himself continued carving and remained active until his death in 1931 (sourced — Bonhams catalog notes, Angers municipal archives). Bayol's juvenile (child-sized) carousels were a distinctive part of his output and survive in identifiable sets.

Documented comparables:

• Drew Pritchard Ltd. offered a Bayol juvenile carved white rabbit in a running pose, French circa 1900, dimensions 52 cm H × 83 cm W × 28 cm D (approximately 20.5 × 32.5 × 11 in.). The Pritchard rabbit was described as one of a complete set of eight figures bought from the family of showmen who commissioned them — held in Pritchard's own collection for over a decade before reaching the market (sourced — Drew Pritchard Ltd. listing). The pose, scale, and surface treatment described match the present figure closely.

• Bonhams Los Angeles, December 4, 2012, Carousel and Circus Memorabilia and Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata sale, Helene Sutter Collection: "A French carved and painted carousel rabbit, Bayol, late 19th/early 20th century" — sold $4,750 inclusive of premium (sourced — Bonhams auction record).

• Bonhams, Lot 127, auction 30381: "A rare French carved pine carousel ride of a rabbit, attributed to Gustave Bayol, circa 1900" (sourced — Bonhams lot record).

• Clars Auction Gallery, February 2024: "An antique carousel figure of a rabbit with glass eyes, probably French in the manner of Gustav Bayol," 47.5 × 48 × 12 in., estimate $1,500–$2,000, hammer $1,100 (sourced — Clars auction record).

• Marks4Antiques price guide records a Bayol rabbit, ca. 1899, with glass eyes, and notes the workshop tradition that "the first rabbit made... was also carved with bells, flowers, and cloth seat, but had a brass twenty-franc piece in its [mouth/socket]" (sourced). This anecdotal detail is repeated across multiple Bayol-rabbit listings and points to a workshop convention worth examining on the present figure.

The auction record range for Bayol rabbits in current circulation runs approximately $1,100–$4,750, with the Sutter sale representing the documented upper end. The MutualArt aggregated record for any Bayol work currently stands at $8,028 (a nodding donkey, Bonhams New Bond Street, 2024) (sourced — MutualArt). The $3,200 purchase price paid in May 1989 represents a serious commitment at that time for a juvenile figure and reflects the Youree provenance premium; in current terms the piece sits comfortably within the documented Bayol-rabbit market band.

Juvenile carousel rabbits are not common in either operating-carousel or private-market terms. Among Bayol's documented production they were carved as full themed groupings — eight, ten, or twelve identical figures for a single children's ride — but few intact groupings survive, and single figures that have separated from their original sets are the typical market form. Among quadruped menagerie subjects in the broader European fairground tradition, the juvenile carousel rabbit is encountered less frequently than the pig and substantially less frequently than the horse.

The surface presents as a thorough restoration: even paint coverage, soft-edged transitions between body colors and trappings, intact carved fur texture undisturbed by the paint application, and no visible losses across the body or face. The trappings — collar, bow, girth strap, saddle pad, and rear ornament — read as a restoration repaint over the original or near-original trapping forms. The carved fur striations across the body remain crisp, which suggests the restoration was conservatively done and did not infill or sand the surface.

No restorer is recorded for this piece. The owner has not identified a restoration provenance.

Formal condition rating: Good to Excellent pending physical inspection of underside, leg joints, and ear repair status (one Bayol rabbit comparable noted "repair to one ear," indicating ears are a known stress point on this figure type).

• Owner interview, recorded: Identification, name (Jacques Rabbit, "Little Bunny"), Youree provenance, acquisition date (May 1989), price ($3,200), circa date (1900), Bayol attribution (rendered phonetically as "Bale"), foundational-piece status.

• Owner master catalog list: Entry #86 — "BAYOL: French Child rabbit purchased from the Walt and Mary Youree collection. His name is Jacque Rabbit. Circa 1900."

• Photograph (DSC_2746): Single image, romance side — analyzed for pose, proportions, trapping detail, surface condition.

• CarouselHistory.com — Walt Youree memorial and provenance context.

• Drew Pritchard Ltd. — Bayol juvenile carved white rabbit comparable (52 × 83 × 28 cm, French c. 1900, set-of-eight provenance).

• Bonhams — Helene Sutter sale (December 2012), Bayol carousel rabbit, $4,750 inc. premium; Bonhams Lot 127 (Bayol rabbit attributed); Bonhams biographical notes on Bayol from associated lot catalogues.

• Clars Auction Gallery — Bayol-attributed rabbit, February 2024, sold $1,100.

• MutualArt — Bayol artist record, current price range ($428–$8,028).

• Marks4Antiques — Bayol rabbit price guide and workshop notes.

• Angers municipal archives — Bayol biographical and workshop history.

Medium-High. The Bayol attribution is reported by the owner and independently supported by multiple matching visual characteristics across documented Bayol juvenile-rabbit comparables (Drew Pritchard, Bonhams, Clars). The Youree provenance is well documented and consistent with multiple other pieces in this collection. The acquisition date, price, and prior collection are recorded. The only elements preventing a High rating are the absence of a documented Bayol maker's mark on this specific figure and the absence of a documented chain of ownership prior to the Youree collection.