This cast, more commonly known as a bronze, was produced by Siot-decauiville, Fondeur, Paris ed. F659. A second silver cast is in the Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina.
François-Raoul Larche was a
French Art Nouveau sculptor best known for his numerous female figures,
both nude and draped.
He was one of several artists inspired by
the dancer Loie Fuller; his statue depicting Fuller
dancing with part of her drapery billowing above and behind her head
like a flame has become one of the icons on the Art Nouveau era.
Frome the Renaissance onwards Christ amongst the doctors has been a very popular subject with artists. The depiction here is unusally in so far as it only the head and shoulders of the adolescent Christ, rather than the more typically depicted scene at large.