Martin Guillaume BIENNAIS (1764-1843) "The Emperor Napoleon I". Rare bust from the "Napoleonides" series. In gilded and chased bronze, in colonel's uniform, wearing the insignia of the Legion of Honor and the Iron Crown, and the plaque of the Legion of Honor. On a pedestal decorated with pearled and guilloché friezes. Resting on a square base adorned on the front with the numeral "N" under an imperial crown in vermeil, decorated on the lower part with a frieze of heart-shaped stripes and engraved on the front: "BIENNAIS ORFre DE LL.MM. IMPles ET ROYles A PARIS". Height: 25.5 cm. B.E. First Empire period. Historical background: Our bust is of major interest, as it is one of the few known of the series executed by Biennais depicting the Emperor Napoleon I. While the "Napoléonides" series, begun by Biennais in 1810, is well known, the figure of Napoleon is, paradoxically, the rarest of the series. With a rare quality of chasing, our bust represents the Emperor in uniform wearing the insignia of the Légion d'honneur of the 4th type, dating our production to circa 1811-1812. Made from a draft sculpted in pink wax, each bust comes with a choice of bases: round or square, decorated with the figure of the subject represented, and sometimes in the form of pendulums. Related works : -Several known examples of different members of the imperial family: Murat, Caroline, Louis, Marie Louise. -Examples in the collections of the Fondation Napoléon, the Princesse Napoléon and the Château de Fontainebleau. -A preparatory model in pink wax from the Biennais estate, sold in Angers (La Perraudière January 19, 2022). Bibliography -Guy LEDOUX LEBARD, " La série des petits bustes en bronze des napoléonides par l'orfèvre Biennais " in Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire de l'Art Français , 1990 ( année 1989 ) , p .130-142 -Elliott JOFFRE, "Les Napoléonides", article available on the "Napoléon.org" website.