Le Prince impérial et son chien Néro no. 2

The simultaneous royal commissions for a portrait bust and full-length statue of the nine year old Charles Napoleon, known as the Prince Impérial (d. 1879), were the fruits of a fortnight's determined lobbying by Carpeaux (d. 1875) at the annual celebration of Empress Eugènie's birthday. Both versions were worked on throughout 1865 and a full-size plaster model of the full-length figure exhibited at the Salon the following year (no. 2668; now at Valenciennes). The marble version was completed in time for the 1867 Exposition Universelle and thereafter installed in the Galerie de Diane at the Tuileries. In 1871, after the abdication of Napoleon III, the marble was transferred as private property to Arenenberg, Switzerland, and then to the family's home in Farnborough, England. It was later sold at auction, subsequently gifted to the French state in 1930, and is now in the Musee d'Orsay (inv. RF2042).
For Carpeaux, the portrait was a chance to secure his developing reputation, and the vicissitudes of his plans to capitalise on the popularity of the full-length model. Reproductions in a variety of sizes were made in marble, plaster, bronze, terracotta, aluminium and porcelain, produced by Carpeaux in his own studio at Auteuil and also by Thiébaut, Barbedienne, Christofle and Sèvres, among others.
The present bronze is a rare liftetime cast. The bronze model in this size, referred to as 'no. 2', was made in limited quantities by Carpeaux's studio beginning in 1866. Production slowed down, if not stopping completely, by 1869.