Charles Pierre PAJOL (1812-1891) Emperor Napoleon I at Montereau Large patinated bronze subject, engraved on the base "GENERAL COMTE PAJOL 1868" and "Fdu par Vor THIEBAUT". and "Fdu par Vor THIEBAUT". On its walnut veneered base (cracked) imitating the pedestal of the Montereau monument, adorned on the front and back with bronze plaques engraved "18 FEVRIER 1814 NAPOLEON I LE DEPARTEMENT DE LA SEINE & MARNE" and "ERIGEE LE 18 AOUT 1867 - SOUS LES AUSPICES DU CONSEIL MUNICIPAL DE MONTEREAU - Bon LASSUS & VESINS PREFETS - MEMBRES DE LA COMMISSION Bon DE BEAUVERGER, THOUVENEL, Gal Cte PAJOL, COMMAND LE DEPnt, GUERIN, LAVAURS, MAUSSION, SAUNIER, DUNOD, BENOIST, CARRE LECAT, BESNARD - MARX & BELLOM INGENIEURS - LEBOIS ARCHITECTE. The base is adorned on the side with two bas-reliefs, the first depicting Napoleon pointing the cannon (after VERNET), with engraved brass cartouche "NE CRAIGNEZ RIEN MES AMIS LE BOULET QUI DOIT ME TUER N'EST PAS ENCORE FONDU". The second depicts General Pajol's charge "LE BRAVE PAJOL A LA TETE DE SA CAVALERIE CULBUTE DANS LA SEINE ET L'YONNE LES AUTRICHIENS ET LES WURTEMBERGEOIS". Subject: Height: 58 cm - Length: 57 cm - Width: 17 cm Total height: 1 m - Total length: 53 cm - Total width: 31 cm A.B.E. (Minor accidents to the bridle, one stirrup to be reattached, knock to the terrace). Provenance: - The sculptor, General Charles Pierre Victor PAJOL, son of the general of the same name, who was in charge at Montereau. - then descended to the present day. Exhibition: Probably exhibited at the 1868 Salon (under n°3785) In this hypothesis, the bronze would have been purchased by the Emperor's household, entered the Louvre stores in March 1870 and returned to the imperial family at the fall of the Empire, then returned to the sculptor in unknown circumstances. Historical background: In the accounts in the 1868 exhibition, we find the following mention: "A large number of Thiébaut bronze groups and busts still decorated the floor of the Exposition. We can't stop at them all. But a remarkable work of chasing is the small model of the monument to Napoleon I at Montereau, by General Pajol. It's the Napoleon of 1814, the hero of the French campaign." Erected in Montereau in 1867, the monument commemorates the Battle of Montereau in 1814, when the Emperor defeated the Austrians. It still stands today. Biography: Charles Pierre Victor Pajol (1802-1891) Son of General Pajol, grandson of Marshal Oudinot on his mother's side, he too headed for a career in arms. He served in Algeria and the Crimea, then in the Franco-Prussian War, where as a general he commanded a cavalry brigade. He was also a sculptor, creating the Montereau monument and a statue of his father in Besançon.