French Cock Crowing
model c. 1860/1894, cast possibly 1890s/c. 1914
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
overall: 30.5 x 13.5 x 29.8 cm (12 x 5 5/16 x 11 3/4 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Accession Number
1980.44.6
Art Historical Context
Auguste-Nicolas Cain’s *French Cock Crowing* captures the spirited presence of a rooster in a compact bronze sculpture. Created as a model between roughly 1860 and 4 and cast in the following decades, the work reflects the enduring popularity of animal subjects in nineteenth-century France. Cain, a leading figure among the animalier sculptors, specialized in lively depictions of birds and farm animals that appealed to both private collectors and public tastes during the Second Empire and Third Republic. Cast in bronze, the medium allowed Cain to render fine details such as the bird’s textured...