Exceptional Sèvres imperial biscuit bust

Portrait of Empress Marie-Louise (1791-1847)
Resting on a rectangular base with rounded angles in blackened wood, possibly later, applied with initials of the second wife of Napoleon Ist ML intertwined in a wreath of laurel leaves in gilded bronze (we find on several models preserved in museums these initials in gilded bronze on bases generally in blue turquin marble).
Good condition, a light restoration to the drape.
Sèvres Imperial Factory, 1814.
By Alexandre BRACHARD (1775-1830), after a marble model by François-Joseph BOSIO (1768-1845).
Incised marks on the back: "A.B." (Alexandre Brongniart visa) / "SÈVRES" (stamp of Empire period sculptures) / "A (lexandre). B (rachard). 8 m (a) rs OZ (for 1814). n° 2".
H. 48 x L. 32 x D. 19 cm (with base).

Provenance
Private collection, USA.

Related works
- Bust of the Empress Marie-Louise in marble by Bosio, 1810, Château de Compiègne (inv. C38.1061, ill. 1).
- Bust of the Empress Marie-Louise in biscuit by Brachard, base in blue turquin marble, Pitti Palace, Florence (ill. 2).
- Bust of Empress Marie-Louise in biscuit by Brachard, 1811, base in blue turquin marble, Napoleon Ist Museum, Fontainebleau castle (deposit of the Cité de la Céramique in Sèvres, inv. MNC 3565, ill. 3).
- Bust of Empress Marie-Louise in biscuit by Brachard, 1813, without base, Osenat sale, December 7, 2008, lot 45 (former Pauline Borghese collection).

Literature
- Exhibition catalog, L'Aiglon, National Museum of the Legion of Honor, Paris, March 20-June 13, 1993, cat. 2, p. 18.
- Christophe Beyeler, Napoleon. Art in Majesty, ed. de Monza, 2017, p. 156.