In excellent condition. Height 33.5 cm (head). Length 34 cm (from head to tail). Weight 4.1 kg. Signed. Label on the bottom: Thomas Blakemore Limited, made in Walsall, England. Pierre Jules Mene (March 25, 1810 - May 20, 1879) was a French sculptor and Animalière. He is considered the pioneer of animal sculpture in the nineteenth century. Mene produced a number of animal sculptures, mainly of domestic animals such as horses, cows and bulls, sheep and goats, which were popular during the Second French Empire. He was one of the pupils at the school of French animalières like Rosa Bonheur, Pierre Louis Rouillard, Antoine-Louis Barye, his son-in-law Auguste Caïn and François Pompon. He opened his own bronze foundry in 1838 for his own work. His work was shown for the first time in London by Ernest Gambart in 1849. The quality of these works is high, similar to Barye's. Mene also seems to have enjoyed a longer period of success and fame than his contemporaries. He is considered the lost wax casting expert of his time, later surpassed only by Auguste Rodin.