Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World bust

thingiverse

This bust is a direct homage. As a child, I was captivated by the Statue of Liberty, and around its centennial in 1986, numerous writings and unpublished photographs surfaced. Among those photographs were rare glimpses of Liberty's bust displayed at the 1878 Paris Exposition within the gardens of the Tocadéro Palace. Another item that caught my eye was a previously unknown souvenir bust of Liberty sold to raise funds for its construction; it was mass-produced by the French foundry Avoiron et Cie during this time. As much as I longed to own one of those extremely rare souvenir busts from 1878, few ever resurfaced other than at Sotheby's Auctions or eBay, and their prices were far beyond my reach. I'm aware that a handful exist in private collections and within the museum based at the Statue of Liberty. I decided yesterday to create a basic version of the bust of the Statue of Liberty, drawing inspiration from the souvenir bust but making it visually closer to the actual finished head of Liberty. I turned to a scaled-down replica of a limited edition produced by Thiébaut frères since I couldn't access any souvenir busts from 1878. Bartholdi had licensed others to recreate the Statue of Liberty in France during his lifetime, reserving the right to cast Liberty in bronze for himself. He typically turned to Thiébaut frères when commissioning a high-quality Statue of Liberty bronze. My replica is dated later and features a much-reduced resin model with a simulated bronze finish, resulting in coarser details. If someone has the opportunity to visit Liberty Island and see the museum there, they can observe a cast bronze copy of a Thiébaut frères Statue of Liberty and visualize how the artist would have envisioned her at a more human scale. The biggest difference between the souvenir bust and the actual finished head is the depiction of the curls behind her ears. In the Avoiron et Cie produced souvenir bust, they are displayed snugly against her neck, whereas in the full-sized finished head, they were separate and falling further onto her shoulders. I assume it was a practical decision to create molds more easily, given that the souvenir bust shares similar curl features as the full figures made by Avoiron et Cie during the 1880s. I doubt anyone besides Frederic Auguste Bartholdi would have noticed this distinction. As usual, this 3D file is somewhat rough and requires a gentle touch to enhance details and restore missing details like delicate lines across the top of the head or the finer features of her pupils and lips.