Bust of La Rieuse Napolitaine

The bust depicts a young woman named Anna Foucart, who was a friend and patron of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (sculptor, 1827 – 1869). She is dressed in a Neapolitan folk costume, with a flat hat traditionally worn in the Sabine mountains by young Neapolitans in the 19^th century. She is further distinguished by her necklace, elaborate hairdo, including the two small chignons on both sides of her face.

Her bust surmounts a fountain flanked by two lobsters. A frog sits in the lower center above a well. The inkwells, resting on the backs of tortoises, are on each side of the center well. The bust is stamped “Propriete Carpeaux” on the back.