Pierre Jules Mene "Louis XV Valet De Chasse" Bronze Sculpture, Dated 1869

Details

Description

Wonderfully large "LOUIS XV VALET DE CHASSE" Bronze Sculpture by PJ Mene dated 1869.

This is a large sculpture made … Read more Wonderfully large "LOUIS XV VALET DE CHASSE" Bronze Sculpture by PJ Mene dated 1869.

This is a large sculpture made of solid bronze, which weighs over 175 lbs. It features a French ‘Huntsman or Valet’, mounted on his horse with 5 hounds on individual leashes. They dogs are chasing the animal they are hunting, as the hunter looks on with his leashes fixed to his hand. He has a hunting horn hanging on his shoulder, and the detail on each figure is excellent quality.

The Valet has exceptional detail His uniform is of the Louis XV period. His hands, sword, hunting horn, boots and spurs. Every part of this sculpture has excellent detail and definition.
The horse, tone and definition, with it bridles, saddlery, cropped tail, mane and head. The muscle tone and definition, clearly showing. The hounds, likewise, have excellent tone and definition. With them straining at the leash, panting with excitement and their rib cages showing from their toned bodies.

Signed “P.J. Mene 1869” and mounted on a green marble plinth with a brass plate simply saying ‘Mene”.

Pierre-Jules Mêne (25 March 1810–20 May 1879) was a French sculptor and animalier. 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 bronze sculptures in his own foundry. 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”. See less