Bust of a Woman
This bust is a reduced-scale version of Houdon's Head of a Woman, also on view in this exhibtion. The inscription on its base commemorates the first abolition of slavery in the French colonies in 1794. The purchase of such reproductions from the artist’s workshop enabled patriots to signal their alignment with the abolitionist cause in the new French Republic. The sculpture’s theme, inscription, and commercial reproduction served as precedents for Carpeaux’s Why Born Enslaved!
Artwork Details
- Title: Bust of a Woman
- Artist: After a model by Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris)
- Date: 1794 or later
- Culture: French
- Medium: Terracotta and paint
- Dimensions: Bust only, confirmed: 8 1/16 × 4 7/8 × 2 3/4 in. (20.5 × 12.4 × 7 cm)
on modern pedestal: 14 3/8 in. (36.5 cm) - Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Bequest of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.283.37
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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Jean Antoine Houdon
18th century
Jean Antoine Houdon
1782
Multiple artists/makers
19th–early 20th century, cast after a model of 1788
Jean Antoine Houdon
19th century
Jean Antoine Houdon
Jno. Williams, Inc. Bronze Foundry, New York
early 20th century cast, after model of 1803
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