Bronze Sculpture of Dogs Hunting by Pierre-Jules Mene (copy)

Description

Bronze Sculpture of Dogs Hunting by Pierre-Jules Mene (copy)

French bronze sculptor. Pierre-Jules Mene was a member of the Animaliers. A 19th century French group of artists founded by Antoine-Louis Barye that used animals as the primary subject of their art.

Born into a metal working family. Mene learned casting skills from his father and later studied with sculptor Rene Campaire.

Early in his career he created porcelain models and started his own foundry in 1837.

He became quite popular both in France and England for his naturalistic. Small-scale portrayal of animals, most notably equine subjects and dogs (bronze sculptures of dogs were particularly popular in 19th century France), but his repertoire also included ducks, chickens, sheep, etc.

He exhibited at the Paris Salon throughout his career where he won several medals. At the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 and 1862, and won the Legion d’Honneur in 1861.

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 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. The lost-wax casting method is sometimes referred to as the cire perdue method.