Bust Of Pr Loubet - Denys Puech - Sèvres Biscuit

Created at the dawn of the century, this biscuit porcelain bust is one of the official portraits of President Émile Loubet, elected to the highest office in 1899. The model is by the Aveyron sculptor Denys Puech, then one of the most prominent portraitists of the Third Republic. The Manufacture nationale de Sèvres produced it in 1900, in accordance with its mission to disseminate, through porcelain, official images of the great figures of the State.

The portrait, of a sober and direct realism, represents Loubet in civilian clothes, his head slightly turned, a full beard and firm features. Far from a heroic idealization, Puech highlights the calm dignity and measured authority of the head of state. This type of bust is part of a decorative and commemorative tradition well established in Sèvres, where many official portraits of political leaders were produced. A testament to the artistic and ceremonial practices of the Republic at the turn of the 20th century, the bust of Loubet by Puech combines portraiture, technical virtuosity and the function of public representation.
A marble copy of this bust is kept in the apartment of the President of the Congress at the Palace of Versailles.

Proof in biscuit porcelain from the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres.
Signed on the right shoulder "D. Puech" and dated "Paris 1900".
Bears the Sèvres stamp and the initials "AD" for the molder-repairer Alexandre Dubois (active between 1896 and 1915). Inscription on the pedestal "E. Loubetv President of the Republic".
Missing from the collar of the jacket and the base.

Height: 45 cm