CAST BY FERDINAND BARBEDIENNE FOR HIOLIN, AFTER A MODEL BY FREDERIC-AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI, DATED 1893

The subject here is a relief of the life-size monument to Franco-American unity by Bartholdi which stands in Paris at Place des Etats-Unis. The sculptor originally solicited the commission from Joseph Pulitzer, whom he met during the campaign for the Statue of Liberty. The commission was to be for a single figure at 40,000 francs, and Bartholdi overspent the budget by creating two figures. He was able to recoup the cost by selling a second cast to the city of New York, where it was placed in Morningside Park, Queens (see June Hargrove, The Statues of Paris, New York, 1989, pp. 182-3).