Animal-themed Bronze Sculpture, Louis Villeminot: Gilded Bronze Sparrow With Sulfide Eyes, 19th Century

An antique gilded bronze animal sculpture depicting a sparrow with puffed-up feathers, perched on a naturalistic pedestal adorned with foliage.

The bird is depicted in a crouched posture, with its wings folded against its body and its head slightly turned. The plumage is finely chiseled, with detailed work on the various rows of feathers.

The sulfur-glazed eyes lend the bird a particularly lively expression.

The base bears the signature “L. Villeminot” as well as the date 1849.

Very fine gilded bronze

Height 6.5 cm – Length 9.5 cm.

In very good condition

Louis Villeminot (1826 – c. 1914)

French sculptor born in Paris in 1826, Louis Villeminot belonged to the generation of artists active during the Second Empire and the second half of the 19th century.

He exhibited at the Paris Salon between 1850 and 1875 and participated in several major decorative projects in Paris, notably that of the Opéra Garnier.

His work included ornamental and decorative sculpture as well as small bronze animal figures, among which were several depictions of birds. His works reflect the 19th-century interest in naturalistic observation and the detailed representation of the animal world.