Auguste-Nicolas CAÏN (Paris, 1821 - 1894) Cup... Lot 39

Auguste-Nicolas CAÏN (Paris, 1821 - 1894) Cup surmounted by a heron Bronze with brown patina Signed : " CAIN ". Dedicated : " to LP. his friend A Caïn ". H. 23,5 x diam. 21 cm Provenance : Descendants of Eugène Le Poittevin. Exhibition : The Invention of Étretat - Eugène Le Poittevin, a painter and his friends at the dawn of Impressionism, Fécamp, Musée Les Pêcheries, 14 July-15 November 2020, cat. 68. Bibliography: Cat. exp. exhibition, The Invention of Étretat - Eugène Le Poittevin, a painter and his friends at the dawn of Impressionism, Fécamp, Musée Les Pêcheries, Musée de Fécamp, July 14-November 15, 2020, Rouen, Éditions des Falaises, 2020, work listed under no. 68, p. 151. A student of Alexandre Guionnet and then François Rude, Auguste Cain specialized in animal sculpture. The Jardin des Plantes became his place of learning and observation and allowed him to create sculptures that he exhibited from 1846. Associated with Pierre-Jules Mêne (1810-1879), whose daughter he married in 1842, he collaborated with his father-in-law, a publisher of bronzes. He acquired a real technique through his contact with his father-in-law, who was a publisher of bronzes. This earned him numerous public commissions and an eminent name among the animal sculptors of the 19th century.