Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria

MANUFACTURE DE SÈVRES manufacturer
France est. 1756
Antoine-Denis CHAUDET (after)
Bust of Napoleon
Buste de Napoléon
1810
porcelain (hard-paste)
Fondation Napoléon, Paris
Donation Lapeyre inv.791
Once the Empire was proclaimed in 1804,
the Sèvres manufactory entered into an
agreement with Antoine-Denis Chaudet,
who reworked slightly his bust of Napoleon
as First Consul from 1802 to make what
became the official portrait of Napoleon as
Emperor. Produced in two sizes, respectively
54 and 30 centimetres high, these busts
became presents that Napoleon gave to
special recipients. Only five examples of the
larger size appear to have been made.
The smaller size, of which this is an example,
was more commonly produced.
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