19th Century Furniture and Decorative Art

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Lot 197
  • 197

Pierre-Jules Mêne

Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 USD
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Description

  • Pierre-Jules Mêne
  • LE PICADOR À CHEVAL
  • signed P. J. MENE and with the Susse Frères Editeurs seal, museum inventory number 1988.36.13 to the underside
  • Bronze, brown patina
  • height 35 1/4 in.
  • 89.5 cm

Provenance

Bequest of Arthur Rubloff, 1988

Literature

Michel Poletti & Alain Richarme, Pierre Jules Mêne: Catalogue raisonné, Paris, 2007, F 17, p. 46

Catalogue Note

Pierre-Jules Mêne's Picador à Cheval first appeared in wax at the 1876 Salon. It was exhibited the following year in bronze, together with a figurative model of a Toréador-Matador (see lot 93 in the present sale). They were numbered 3 and 9 respectively in his catalogue and listed next to his more common groups of Scottish, French and North African hunting groups. Here Mêne emphasizes his hallmark attention to detai with highlights of the costume, hats and implements picked out in gold. The picador is proud and triumphant with a lady's fan thrown to the ground in his wake. 

For a further note on the artist, see lot ... in the present sale.