Mene, Pierre-Jules

Born in Paris in 1810, Pierre-Jules Mene was the second most successful and prolific animalier of his day, Barye being the only peer of greater renown. He won four medals at the Salon, receiving the Cross of the Legion d'honneur in 1861. Beginning in 1838, Pierre-Jules Mene cast his work personally in his own foundry and in 1852 he expanded to handle the casting of sculpture for his new son-in-law, the animalier Auguste Cain. As an avenue into the profitable English market, he arranged the Coalbrookdale Foundry and the Falkirk Foundry to cast models of his works. After his death in 1879, Auguste Cain transferred the right to edit 110 of his models and 217 of his father-in-law's models to Susse Freres. They subsequently issued a catalogue devoted exclusively to the animalier works of the two sculptors.

Literature & Further Reading:

• Animals in Bronze, Christopher Payne
• The Animaliers, James Mackay; reproduction of Mene's catalog on p. 147-151
• Bronzes of the 19th Century: Dictionary of Sculptors, Pierre Kjellberg, p. 469-483
• E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. IX, Gründ, 2006, p. 760
• Bronze Sculpture of Les Animaliers, Jane Horswell
• Art Bronzes, Michael Forrest, 1988
• Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de L'École Française, Vol. III, Lami, 1919, p. 427-30