Negress of the Colonies

From 1851 to 1866, Charles Cordier served as the official sculptor for the new Ethnographic Gallery at Paris's National History Museum. Sponsored by the French government, the artist traveled throughout Europe and Africa documenting diverse peoples by using photography. It was during this time that Cordier made two versions of this female bust, the other currently in the Musée D'Orsay. The Ponce sculpture previously wore a piece of drapery made from onyx marble (now lost), which Cordier found in an Algerian quarry.