French Gift to Theodore Roosevelt

The six bisque figurines designed by French sculptor Agathon Leonard produced by the Sevres Porcelain Factory were originally gifted to President Theodore Roosevelt and Mrs. Edith Roosevelt by a French diplomat and were used in the White House during the Theodore Roosevelt administration. They now permanently reside in the collection of the Sagamore Hill Historic Site. Leonard based his designs on the modern dances of Loie Fuller. Born in Illinois in 1862, Fuller grew up performing in travelling shows, vaudeville, and the theatre before becoming interested in dance in the early 1890s. Inspired in part by sunlight shimmering on silk, Fuller realized that dance could be a free-flowing combination of light with movement. She developed a series of “serpentine” dances that copied the movements of flowers, butterflies, flowing water or flickering flames and used colored lights and the manipulation of scarves and props to enhance the emotional quality of the performance.