Daniel Chester French (1850-1931)

The present work served as a working model for the full-scale monument of George Washington in the Place d'Iéna in Paris, France. In 1896, the Daughters of the American Revolution commissioned Daniel Chester French to produce the statue in honor of France's assistance in the Revolutionary War. An inscription on the statue in Paris reads “Gift of the women of the United States of America in memory of the brotherly help given by France to their fathers in the fight for Independence." In 1903, French produced a full-scale replica for Washington Park in Chicago, Illinois.

The inscription 'E.C. Potter' on the cast is an acknowledgement of the contribution of Edward Clark Potter, who worked on all of French's equestrian monuments and was responsible for the enlargement of the horse. According to the Roman Bronze Works ledger books, four casts of the reduction of the working model were made, including an example at Chesterwood, the summer estate and studio of the artist in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.