Female bust in Renaissance dress by Louis-Robert Carrier-Belleuse. Choisy-le-Roi.

Stamp mark. Late 19th century. Verso inscribed "Louis Carrier-Belleuse". Design: Louis-Robert CARRIER-BELLEUSE (1848-1913).

Majolica, painted in color. H 41 cm.

Bust of a woman with blue hood and splendid historicist robe, on a high round base.

Choisy-le-Roi has been one of the most important centers of French ceramic production since around 1804. In 1836, Louis Boulenger (1773-1850) and Hippolyte Hautin took over the management of the local faience manufactory. Their children Adolphe Boulenger (1805-1873) and Alexandrine Hautin (1814-1900) married and had four children, including Hippolyte Boulenger (1836-1892), who became the owner of the company in 1863 and continued to run it under the name H. Boulenger & Cie (Hautin Boulenger & Cie). During this time, the manufactory employed around three hundred people and expanded its production to include numerous majolica designs. Its main competitor was the Alsace-Lorraine ceramics factory in Sarreguemines, which was annexed by Germany after the end of the Franco-Prussian War. As some workers from Sarreguemines rejected the German affiliation, they moved to Choisy-le-Roi and contributed their technical and artistic skills to the production. Boulenger went on to produce the finest majolica in France and gained a great reputation at international exhibitions. In 1889, Hippolyte Boulenger opened a store at 18 Rue Paradis in Paris, where the manufactory's new designs were exhibited. Among the most impressive pieces are monumental majolica vases with hens, cockerels and other birds, modeled by Paul Comolera and Louis-Robert Carrier-Belleuse. Louis-Robert Carrier-Belleuse (1848 Paris - 1913 Paris) was a French painter, sculptor and ceramist. He became the artistic director of the Choisy-le-Roi Faiencerie in 1889 under Hippolyte Boulenger. In the same year, he received a silver medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris and was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor. The longest collaboration took place after the death of Hippolyte Boulenger with his son Paul Boulenger. An unusual development in Carrier-Belleuse's career was the establishment of his reputation as a sculptor in Central America. This seems to have begun with a commission for the tomb of the liberal reformer and modernizer of Guatemala, President Justo Rufino Barrios, who died in April 1885. in 1891, Carrier-Belleuse designed the National Monument of Costa Rica, a bronze monument unveiled in 1895 in the Parque Nacional of San José, which commemorates the national campaign of 1856/57 and the heroes of Costa Rica's freedom.

Literature : Majolica International Society, Denton, Texas: Choisy-le-Roi. Galerie Origines, Arles: Choisy-le-Roi, H. Boulenger. Rehs Galleries, Inc, New York, NY: Biography - Louis-Robert Carrier-Belleuse (1848 - 1913).

Provenance : Museum estate of Peter Kaus.