Bronze paperweight by Ernst Julius Hähnel (1823-1909)

An Animalier bronze paperweight depicting a monkey about to catch a fly, signed by the artist Hähnel and produced around 1875.

4 1/4 in x 2 3/8 in

The same sculpture is held in the collection of the V&A, that version gifted by F.T. Plagrave, ‘one of the foremost commentators on contemporary sculpture in the mid 19th century’.

Ernst Julius Hähnel originally studied architecture at the Dresden Academy before joining the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich where he remained until 1831. Following classes with Ernst Rietschel and Ludwig Schwanthaler he took up sculpture and went on a study trip to Rome and Florence. By 1838 he had been entrusted by Gottfried Semper to prepare sculptures for the new opera house in Dresden, the Semperoper.

In 1845 he created his Beethoven monument in Bonn. It was this work that made Hähnel famous. In 1848 he was made a full Professor at the Dresden Academy; his best known students were perhaps Johannes Schilling and Christian Behrens.