​Object Identification & Overview ​Subject: Voltaire en Perruque (seated in a draped robe, holding a scroll in the right hand). ​Period/Origin: French, late 18th century (ca. 1780–17900). ​Method of Manufacture: Pre-industrial hollow sand-core casting (assemblage à pièces) with extensive hand-chasing (ciselure). ​Physical Metrics ​Height: 10.5 inches. ​Width: 4.25 inches. ​Total Combined Weight: 5 lbs 1.8 oz (indicating dense, high-grade, thick-walled bronze alloy consistent with 18th-century foundry pours). ​Inter-Foot Distance: The precise distance between the inner faces of the feet measures exactly 1.5 inches. This definitive millimeter alignment serves as a critical structural baseline for verifying original foundry model dimensions against known late-18th-century workshop logs. ​Foundry Mechanics & Internal Hardware Proofs ​Thread & Stud Architecture: The mounting studs extending from the limbs feature highly irregular, hand-filed thread profiles with a non-standard pitch, proving they were cut individually at a workbench before industrial standardization. ​Internal Fasteners: The piece utilizes entirely hand-formed, raw square brass block nuts to clamp the internal joints securely to the torso. ​Structural Anomalies (Pièce de Rapport): The interior underside features a custom-fabricated bronze gap-filler shim (pièce de rapport) manually secured with a handmade, off-center slot-head screw to correct a casting contraction gap. ​Core Stabilization: The interior cavity displays a rough, granular sand-loam core texture and preserves the placement of five core pins/chaplets, confirming a meticulously anchored hollow casting process. ​Assembly Markings: Hand-struck workshop tally marks ("III") are incised directly into the mating face of the foot joint and corresponding robe hem to serve as structural match marks (marques d'assemblage) for the bench craftsman. ​Stylistic Significance & Art-Historical Context ​The Anatomy of the Left Hand & Thigh Pose ​The specific positioning of Voltaire’s left hand—resting loosely, palm-down, with delicately parted fingers draped over his left thigh—is a crucial diagnostic detail for tracing this bronze back to the elite circle of Jean-Antoine Houdon and the specialized regional workshops (such as the Rosset family) operating in the late 1700s. ​In Houdon’s definitive master models of the seated Voltaire (originally executed for the Comédie-Française), the subject is defined by a naturalistic, relaxed intellectual posture. Rather than a rigid, stylized classical pose, the left hand is rendered with exceptional anatomical precision, displaying subtle veining and relaxed knuckles that capture the fragile, aged posture of the philosopher in his final years. ​The crisp execution of the ruffled lace cuff surrounding this wrist shows that the workshop used direct, high-tier casting molds rather than degraded, multi-generation commercial re-casts. ​Condition & Patination ​Patina: Original, deep historic chemical chocolate-brown patination. ​Wear: Displays a completely natural, genuine high-point handling wear pattern. The patina has smoothly oxidized away over centuries on high-friction zones (the knees, lapels, and shoe tips), revealing the rich, warm, golden-yellow bronze véritable beneath. This piece is non entirely non magnetic, and has a ringing resonance when tapped with a metal tool. The sculpture also separates into 6 parts. Right wrist/hand, left arm, both legs, plinth seat, and a small portion hiding a gap between the gown and seat.

10.5 inches in length, 4.25 inches width, 4.5 inch depth and the deepest portion