1860 PIERRE JULES MENE Bronze BRUSSELS GRIFFON BRUXELLOIS DOG Signed Museum Qual

Description: PIERRE-JULES MENE, 1810 - 1879, was a French sculptor and animalier. He is considered one of the pioneers of animal sculpture in the nineteenth century, Les Animaliers, coming into the movement after Barye and Fratin. While Animalier was originally an insult, the popularity of the movement reframed the moniker into a positive. Mêne was born on 25 March 1810 in Paris, France. As a teenager he worked for his father, a metal turner. By 1837 he was casting his bronze sculptures in his own foundry. Mêne produced a number of animal sculptures, mainly of domestic animals including horses, cows and bulls, sheep and goats which were in vogue during the Second Empire. He was one of a school of French animalières which also included Rosa Bonheur, Paul-Edouard Delabrierre, Pierre Louis Rouillard, Antoine-Louis Barye, his son Alfred, son-in-law Auguste Caïn and François Pompon.His work was first shown in London by Ernest Gambart in 1849. Mêne specialized in small bronze figures which explains why none of his works exist as public statuary. His work was a popular success with the bourgeois class and many editions of each sculpture were made, often to decorate private homes. The quality of these works is high, comparable to Barye's. Mêne enjoyed a longer period of success and celebrity than his contemporaries. He is considered to have been the lost-wax casting expert of his time. The lost-wax casting method is sometimes referred to as the cire perdue method.Because Mêne was so prolific and because so many editions of his works were made, his work is sometimes undervalued in the current market, and forgeries and reproductions of his works abound. However, original pieces cast during his lifetime continue to bring good prices at auction. Russian foundries are known to have copied Mêne's work. These castings can be recognized by the appearance of a small plaque, inscribed in Cyrillic, most often found on the underside of the base of the sculpture.After Mène's death in 1879, the Susse Freres foundry acquired the rights to reproduce his models and produced posthumous proofs marked "Susse foundeur éditeur, Paris". This piece inscribed 1860 as a "Friendship Remembrance," which dates this piece during Mene's lifetime. MANY poor quality reproductions of his various works have been made, and there is rarely a distinction as to the time period, and many are of extremely poor quality. THIS IS AUTHENTIC AND ORIGINAL TO 1860. These are rarely found, in 30 years in the business, I have never seen this exact work of art as an individual piece. I have seen the same dog on a larger elongated base with the dog looking at a Pigeon, but never as the dog alone. Marked: P.J. MENE. Guaranteed Original, heavy real Bronze. 6.75" High from the bottom of the base to the tallest tip of an ear, 5.75" diameter to the circular base. Buy It Now Price is firm at $1499.99. It is just beautiful! Exquisite detail down to the toes! PERFECT CONDITION, NO CONDITION ISSUES OF ANY KIND! All items are mailed via USPS Priority Mail and all are fully insured. Items can be combined for the cost of additional postage and full insurance only, there are no handling fees, so feel free to ask for a combined invoice for multiple items. USA SALES ONLY! Note that I have been in business for Decades, with well over 50,000 successfully completed transactions. Packing for shipment is done professionally and you can expect your item to arrive safely! PLEASE NOTE THAT SHIPMENTS ARE TAKING LONGER THAN NORMAL TO ARRIVE BECAUSE OF: 1) THE HOLIDAYS, 2) RECENT POLITICAL FIGHTS THAT HAVE SLOWED SERVICES. All items will have tracking numbers provided on the auctions that you can track as they work their way from my home to yours!

Price: 1499.99 USD

Location: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2024-12-29T19:58:10.000Z

Shipping Cost: 25 USD