A large bronze sculpture of a golden pheasant perched on a rock and startled by a lizard. After the 19th century French sculptor Jules Moigniez who was born at Senlis, France in 1835. He was the son of a metal guilder, who bought a foundry to cast his son’s sculptures. Jules was best known for his bronze birds and frequently exhibited his sculptures at the Paris Salon. A highly regarded leading member of the French “Animalier” movement, this sculpture is illustrated (page 87) in “Animals in Bronze” by Christopher Payne, where the author quotes that “…the details on this model seems to be good on all casts” ~ and that it is a “.. rare bronze with relatively few casts made.”