Bronze "Le Fauconnier", Barbedienne Edition Signed Pierre-Jules Mêne (1810 - 1979)

Very young, Pierre-Jules Mêne was imbued with the taste of his time. He collects the prints of Horace Vernet, a painter steeped in Orientalism, painting and drawing nervous Arabian horses as one likes them then. Mêne, if he begins by modeling subjects for porcelain, does not take long to try his hand at bronze and quickly distinguishes himself with his animal sculptures. Under a Second Empire fond of these subjects, the works of Mêne not only met with elite success but also with popular success: reissues were numerous in small formats, which gave a lot of interest to our bronze whose large format is not common in the production of the artist.
The latter, like Antoine-Louis Barye, had acquired a workshop to set up his own foundry in which he produced his bronzes as well as those of his son-in-law, the sculptor Auguste Cain. However, a few Barbedienne fonts from the end of the 19th century give life to the work of this remarkable sculptor.
Here, the subject mixes orientalism and the animal sculptor, bringing together two themes dear to Mêne and in which he excels. We admire the taut musculature of the mount, the ease and attitude of the rider, stable on his saddle regardless of the rapid movements of his horse. The rider emeritus does not look in front of him but the falcon which lands on his glove. Does he train the bird to hunt? Unless the falconer releases the raptor soon? The scene captured does not indicate this, but the movement full of energy and ardor undoubtedly characterizes this bronze with a bronze patina and in perfect condition.