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bronze, 15 1/2 in. long by 9 1/2 in. wide by 8 1/2 in. high inscribed "ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N-Y-" on side of base Percival Rosseau was born in 1859 near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Although he is considered a premier artist of sporting dogs, Rosseau did not turn to art until relatively late in his life. He made his fortune through business by the age of thirty-five, and then he sailed to Paris to attend the Académie Julian. He studied under Jules Lefebvre (1836-1911), and returned to the United States after a successful 1904 Paris Salon to find a ready market for his work among wealthy sportsmen and breeders of pointers and setters. Among these patrons was Percy Rockefeller, nephew of oil tycoon John. D. Rockefeller, son of William Avery Rockefeller, Jr., and brother of Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge. Along with several investors, Percy Rockefeller built Overhills, a private hunt and country club with stables and kennels in Cumberland County, North Carolina. He kept a cottage on the property for Rosseau to use when he visited and the artist is known to have painted several setters from the Rockefeller kennel. Rosseau's best works capture the tense action of hunting dogs. This rare sculpture by the artist, depicting three alert setters, tightly packed and intent on tracking the scent, is thought to be the only bronze made during his career. It bears the inscription of the Roman Bronze Works, which was founded in 1897 and introduced the lost-wax casting method to America. Roman Bronze Works was the pre-eminent bronze foundry in the country, working with other artists, including Frederic Remington (1861-1909) and Charles M. Russell (1864-1926). The foundry suffered a tremendous loss in 1921 when a spectacular fire gutted the plant in Brooklyn, but the company continues to produce bronzes today. An edition of Rosseau's bronze sold in 1975 from Giralda, the New Jersey estate of Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge. Geraldine, sister of Percy, was herself an avid sportswoman and dog-lover who endowed St. Hubert's Giralda and co-founded the Morris and Essex Kennel Club with her husband. She was also known for her art collection, which included animalier bronzes and numbered into the thousands when she died in 1973. This is a rare opportunity to collect a scarce work by sporting art royalty.