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French Gift to Theodore Roosevelt

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  • Loie Fuller 1

    1 of 9

    One of Six bisque figurines designed by French sculptor Agathon Leonard and gifted to President Theodore Roosevelt and Mrs. Edith Roosevelt. The sculptures are based on the modern dances of Illinois native, Loie Fuller.

    Photographed by Gavin Ashworth for the White House Historical Association

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  • Loie Fuller 2

    2 of 9

    One of Six bisque figurines designed by French sculptor Agathon Leonard and gifted to President Theodore Roosevelt and Mrs. Edith Roosevelt. The sculptures are based on the modern dances of Illinois native, Loie Fuller.

    Photographed by Gavin Ashworth for the White House Historical Association

    Show Me More

  • Loie Fuller 3

    3 of 9

    A detail of one of the six Sevres dancers now in the collection of Sagamore Hill, which were given to President Theodore Roosevelt and Mrs. Edith Roosevelt by a French delegation attending the unveiling of the Rochambeau statue in Lafayette Park in 1902.

    Photographed by Gavin Ashworth for the White House Historical Association

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  • Loie Fuller 4

    4 of 9

    A detail of one of the six Sevres dancers now in the collection of Sagamore Hill, which were given to President Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Roosevelt by a French delegation attending the unveiling of the Rochambeau statue in Lafayette Park in 1902.

    Photographed by Gavin Ashworth for the White House Historical Association

    Show Me More

  • Loie Fuller 5

    5 of 9

    One of Six bisque figurines designed by French sculptor Agathon Leonard and gifted to President Theodore Roosevelt and Mrs. Edith Roosevelt. The sculptures are based on the modern dances of Illinois native, Loie Fuller.

    Photographed by Gavin Ashworth for the White House Historical Association

    Show Me More

  • Loie Fuller 6

    6 of 9

    One of Six bisque figurines designed by French sculptor Agathon Leonard and gifted to President Theodore Roosevelt and Mrs. Edith Roosevelt. The sculptures are based on the modern dances of Illinois native, Loie Fuller.

    Photographed by Gavin Ashworth for the White House Historical Association

    Show Me More

  • Loie Fuller 7

    7 of 9

    One of Six bisque figurines designed by French sculptor Agathon Leonard and gifted to President Theodore Roosevelt and Mrs. Edith Roosevelt. The sculptures are based on the modern dances of Illinois native, Loie Fuller.

    Photographed by Gavin Ashworth for the White House Historical Association

    Show Me More

  • Loie Fuller 8

    8 of 9

    One of Six bisque figurines designed by French sculptor Agathon Leonard and gifted to President Theodore Roosevelt and Mrs. Edith Roosevelt. The sculptures are based on the modern dances of Illinois native, Loie Fuller.

    Photographed by Gavin Ashworth for the White House Historical Association

    Show Me More

  • Loie Fuller 9

    9 of 9

    One of Six bisque figurines designed by French sculptor Agathon Leonard and gifted to President Theodore Roosevelt and Mrs. Edith Roosevelt. The sculptures are based on the modern dances of Illinois native, Loie Fuller.

    Photographed by Gavin Ashworth for the White House Historical Association

    Show Me More

About this Article

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.

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