Gustave Bayol was born on December 16, 1859, in Le Pontet, near Avignon. His father was a joiner, woodcarver, and cabinetmaker, and Bayol apprenticed with him before turning his attention to carousel figures. He relocated to Angers, in the Loire Valley, where the Gustave Bayol Carousel Company operated from approximately 1887 through circa 1914. The factory produced dozens of manèges, many of which are still in operation today — including surviving machines in the Jardin du Ranelagh and the Bois de Vincennes in Paris. Angers named a public square in his honor. Chez Pluie + 3

Bayol was considered the foremost carousel maker in France and was known above all for his fanciful carvings of farm animals. Horses were made, and made well, but the barnyard figures — pigs, cows, donkeys, goats — are what collectors seek and specialists reference. Figures typically feature inset glass eyes, iron structural elements, and polychrome painted surfaces; a cast metal blanket plaque bearing the maker's name appears consistently on documented examples, though unsigned workshop pieces also circulate. Some figures were fitted with voice mechanisms, possibly bellows-operated. On the auction market, realized prices range from approximately $428 to $8,028 USD, with the current record — a large carved nodding donkey — sold at Bonhams New Bond Street in 2024. Farm animal figures have established their own comparables: a carved pig sold at Christie's New York in September 2015 for $11,250. Rafaelosonaauction + 3