Jules Moigniez French, 1835-1894

Moigniez studied under the animalier sculptor Paul Comoléra, who in his turn had been a pupil of the great French sculptor François Rude. Moigniez made his exhibition debut at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1855 with A Pointer stopping at a pheasant and continued to exhibit regularly at the annual Salon for almost forty years. His models particularly appealed to the British market and it has been claimed that more than half his production was sold across the channel. Certainly he exhibited to acclaim in England, notably at the 1862 International Exhibition. From 1857, the manufacture of Moigniez considerable output was overseen by his father who set up a foundry specifically to cast his son's models. This resulted in a consistently high standard of casting in contemporary editions and the common absence of foundry marks.

The motif of a horse and dog was one which Moigniez revisited in several models, exploring in each the different reactions that the two animals display to one another. His model of a horse and greyhound (lot 501) shows the dog seated companionably at the horse’s feet, looking up with a friendly glance. In the present model the relationship between the two animals has become hostile: the startled horse whips his head round to confront the wolfhound, who seems to back off rather gingerly. The figure of the horse has been lifted from another model by Moigniez – his Boar Hunt, illustrated by Payne and Horswell. Removed from this complex and agitated group, the accomplished description of the horse’s fright is drawn into focus in the simpler composition of the present model. Many of the animalier sculptors liked to reinvent their motifs in a variety of models, as it allowed them to experiment with composition and at the same time enlarge their commercial oeuvre.

RELATED LITERATURE
Horswell, pp. 217 & 246; Payne, pp. 320 & 414, no H124; Lami, vol.III, pp. 459-461