Pierre-Jules MÊNE (Paris, 1810 - 1879) Pocket-box dedicated to Eugène Le Poittevin (1806-1870), 1852 Bronze with patina Signed: "PJ MENE Dedicated in a cartouche : " to / his friend / Le Poittevin / PJ Mène / 1852 Bears the monogram : " ELP " on the reverse in a cartouche Size : 5,3 x 17,8 x 16,7 cm Provenance: Given by the artist to Eugène Le Poittevin; descent from 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, July 14-November 15, 2020, cat. 67. 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. 67, pp. 150-151. Related literature: Michel Poletti, Alain Richarme, Pierre-Jules Mêne, catalog raisonné, Paris, Univers du Bronze, 2007, vide-poche dedicated to Hippolyte Bellangé listed under no. OD-BR 13, p. 207. This vide-poche offered by Pierre-Jules Mêne to his friend Eugène Le Poittevin in 1852 was based on a covered ornamental bowl illustrating the theme of hunting, made around 1849-1850 (preserved in the Musée d'Orsay, inv. no. OAO 1799). It seems that the animal sculptor was gratifying his friends with this small bronze, since the painter Hippolyte Bellangé also owned a copy dedicated and dated: "to my friend Bellangé 1852".