Rewarding France - Georges Diebolt

"Remunerative France" allegorical figure of France holding laurel wreaths in both hands.
Bronze with nuanced red-brown patina. rare old proof, signed and dated "Diébolt 1851".
Foundry stamp "Thiebaut" on the back.

Georges Diébolt obtained the grand prize for sculpture from the École des Beaux-Arts in 1841. He made his debut at the Salon in 1848 after a stay in Rome as a resident at the Villa Medici. He is particularly known by Parisians as the author of the figure of the "Zouave du Pont de l'Alma" which has long served the inhabitants of the capital as a standard witness to the floods of the Seine. We also owe him the monumental statue of 'La France remunératrice' erected in 1851 on the Champs-Élysées roundabout during the distribution of the awards obtained by French industrialists at the Universal Exhibition in London. Our statuette is a rare reduction of this monument. The Musée d'Orsay has a similar copy that belonged to the artist's widow.