Horses, bronze, debossed with signature “P.J. MENE” (1983.2.1)
1875 – 1900 (Date manufactured/created)
Figurine
Bronze
8 inches H
X
5 inches W
13 inches L
Measurement Notes: 13" long x 5" wide x 8" high
Bronze late-Victorian double figurine. Stallion and mare, neck entwined, standing on an oval base. Naturalistically-modelled, overall
From A Brief Guide to the Works of Art on Display in the Mark Twain House by Steve Courtney, September 2020:
These nuzzling horses are another example of the popular animalière bronzes by Mêne, like the ones decorating the mantel in the entry hall.
Pierre-Jules Mêne (1810-77), a Parisian sculptor,[i] was the most successful of a group of French artists specializing in animals known as the animalières. The son of a metal worker, he established his own foundry to create decorative metal figures for clocks and other items. After sketching animals – particularly horses and dogs – in the Jardin des Plantes, a Paris park, he modeled over 150 different subjects, all of them smaller works, which were then cast in bronze in the thousands. These were hugely popular throughout Europe and America.
From A Brief Guide to the Works of Art on Display in the Mark Twain House by Steve Courtney, September 2020:
These nuzzling horses are another example of the popular animalière bronzes by Mêne, like the ones decorating the mantel in the entry hall.
Pierre-Jules Mêne (1810-77), a Parisian sculptor,[i] was the most successful of a group of French artists specializing in animals known as the animalières. The son of a metal worker, he established his own foundry to create decorative metal figures for clocks and other items. After sketching animals – particularly horses and dogs – in the Jardin des Plantes, a Paris park, he modeled over 150 different subjects, all of them smaller works, which were then cast in bronze in the thousands. These were hugely popular throughout Europe and America.
[i] Biography from the online Bronze Gallery, http://bronze-gallery.com/sculptors/artist.cfm?sculptorID=37 (Accessed 8/28/20)
The Mark Twain House & Museum, Gift of Miss Helen Perkins, 1983
1983.2.1