The composition reproduces the image of Madame Molé-Reymond from Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun's 1786 portrait in the Louvre. The painted prototype is translated into three dimensions through chryselephantine sculpture: gilded bronze forms the costume, while ivory is used for the pale exposed parts of the figure. The marble base gives the work the character of a finished interior object. Created in France in the first quarter of the 20th century, the statuette demonstrates the decorative arts' continuing interest in reinterpreting celebrated 18th-century images.

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