Christy Williams

One afternoon my grandmother took me around her house, asking me to pick out what I wanted after she died. It was a grim tour, but there was one thing I had known my whole life and wanted to carry on. It was a bronze hunting dog with a pheasant in his mouth

that had belonged to my great, great grandfather. I wasn’t in competition with any of my sibs or cousins for it, so it is mine. 

One day, as I was pulling into my driveway with the radio on, I heard that the Antiques Road Show was going to be broadcasting from Fort Worth, only 35 miles away. I ran into the house, grabbed the 44.5 pound bronze dog and headed to Fort Worth, with dollar signs dancing in my head, although I would really never sell it. 

There was a long line of about 30 people waiting to talk to one of the antique experts and maybe be on the show. I got in line, and little by little, I picked up the dog and put it down as the line moved forward. That dog was becoming heavier and heavier as I went. 

Finally, it was my turn. The fella said he really knew nothing about this dog exceptthat there were probably many, many of these cast in the late 1800s and early1900’s and mine wouldn’t be worth much more than $1,200. He saw that there was a Tiffany’s stamp on it, and said that there were probably a whole row of these dogs on the shelves at Tiffany’s during that time. He said that it would only be really valuable if this was produced by an important artist. 

The dog is signed by J Moigniéz, 1835-1894, whom I found out from Wikipedia, was a sculptor who did bronzes of birds, dogs, horses and hunting scenes. He sold mostly in the UK but became popular in the U.S. in the late 1800s. The dog also has a stamp MEDAILLE D’OR PARIS. Maybe a sculpture of this type was shown at the Paris Exhibition of 1900? When I look online for more information, I find that this exact dog sells for between $147 and $2,400, and there are several available. 

Well, it’s not a rare piece worth thousands of dollars, but I am grateful to have it because it was something so unusual and so emblematic of my great, great

grandfather’s life, and had been in the family forever. Weird but true, I found out recently that my daughter, who grew up with it, thought that my great, great grandfather’s actual dog was bronzed over and inside the sculpture. That would be something!