Description: Bronze Arabian mare and foal feeding from a large feed dish. Made of solid cast bronze in the style of the famous French sculptor, P. J. Mene.The sculpture is fitted to a rectangular base made of green, white, gray and black marble. NOTE: Exhaustive research has been made to identify this work as either original or reproduction. As of this writing no known copies of this particular sculpture have, or could, be found via the internet or elsewhere. Given the value of original works by this artist and the number of forgeries available we have attempted to be as thorough with our description as possible.

History: Pierre-Jules Mêne was a French sculptor and animalière. He is considered one of the pioneers of animal sculpture in the nineteenth-century. 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-in-law Auguste Caïn, and François Pompon.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 an increasing number of private homes of the period. 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.Mêne died on 20 May 1879 in Paris, France. He is remembered as one of the finest, and certainly the most prolific, animalier sculptors of all time.

Provenance: N/A

Dimensions: Weight (Pounds & Ounces) = 5 | Height(in) = 6" | Width(in) = 6" | Depth(in) = 6"

Size of Artwork(in): 7"25 x 3.50 x 4"

Artist Name: Likely P. J. Mene

Medium: Bronze on Marble

Circa: 19th Century

Very good condition. 90% of it's factory applied dark accenting patina on bronze. Complete with it's original rectangular shaped marble base.