Large Signed Oval Marble Ashtray or Centerpiece With Two-Bronze Eagles

Joseph Franz Pallenberg was a German artist and sculptor, born in 1882, in Cologne, Germany. He is well-known as an animal sculptor. He began drawing animals at the age of six years, excited by a visit to the Cologne Zoo. From 1899, he attended the Dusseldorf Art Academy, where he received his first training in drawing, from Ernst Roeber and Willy Spatz. His first significant work, the Sauhatz, was shown in 1902, in Kunstpalast Dusseldorf, as part of the large trade and industrial exhibition. In 1904, Joseph exhibited 16 animal sculptures at the “Great Berlin Art Exhibition”. In 1907, his bronze sculpture, Flying Eagles received a gold medal at the “Great Berlin Art Exhibition”. In his studio, in Cologne, he created the Rominter Runfthirsch, which received the Golden State Medal at the “1907 National Art Exhibition”.