Pair of Antique Ormolu and Marble Miniature Busts of LAFAYETTE and BAILLY
£2,650
A fine pair of gilt bronze and marble miniature busts depicting Jean Sylvain Bailley, astronomer and Mayor of Paris and Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, both modelled full face, their wigs enqueue, on waisted socle bases, raised on dwarf column plinths, with applied inscribed plaques, above chain garlands, on foliate and milled circular bases
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (1757 – 1834)
known in the United States as Lafayette, was a French nobleman and military officer who volunteered to join the Continental Army, led by General George Washington, in the American Revolutionary War. Lafayette was ultimately permitted to command Continental Army troops in the decisive Siege of Yorktown in 1781, the Revolutionary War’s final major battle that secured American independence. After returning to France, Lafayette became a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830 and continues to be celebrated as a hero in both France and the United States.
Jean Sylvain Bailly (1736 – 1793)
a French astronomer, mathematician, freemason, and political leader of the early part of the French Revolution. He presided over the Tennis Court Oath, served as the mayor of Paris from 1789 to 1791, and was ultimately guillotined during the Reign of Terror.
