Baron Bosio, After - Restoration Period - Rare Royalist Bust Of Louis XVIII - Ormolu Bronze

Bust of Louis XVIII
Bronze, finely chased and ormolu gilded 
(5 pieces)
Dimensions: H. 22.5 overall; H. 10 head; C. 8.7 (cm.)
France, circa 1820

Rare bust of Louis XVIII after a sculpture by Bosio, wearing, in uniform, multiple symbols of power: the orders of Saint-Louis, the Legion of Honour and the Holy Spirit. It surmounts a smooth column resting on a finely chiselled pedestal. The quadrangular base is completely burnished.
These pieces of royalist fervour were very rarely produced in gilt bronze, and much more often in porcelain biscuit or patinated bronze. This is therefore an unusual example in perfect condition.

Provenance: Hermès family, in the Hôtel de Lannion, built in 1754.

Related works:
-François-Joseph Bosio, Louis XVIII, after 1814, bronze bust, Musée Carnavalet, n°Inv. S819
-François-Joseph Bosio, Louis XVIII, circa 1814, marble bust, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, n°Inv. 4
-François-Joseph Bosio, Louis XVIII, circa 1814, marble bust, Musée de Chalon sur Saône, n°Inv. S011

Condition report: very slight wear to the gilding.