A vintage bronze bust of Armand Petersen. 
Judging by his appearance it could be just after his death in 1969. 
Or it could be a selv portrait just before his death. 
The latter is most likely as it has the date of his birth and not the date of his death. 

Born in Basel, Switzerland, Armand Petersen (1891-1969) studied the art of chiseling and gold smithery at the School of Industrial Arts in Geneva. When the First World War broke out, he left for Budapest to continue studying at his Craft. 
After travelling to Italy and Germany, he worked at the studio of the Hungarian sculptor Markup who introduced him to the animal sculpture and the animals of Budapest’s zoo. 
In 1924, Petersen settled down in Paris, a period in which animal sculpturing was at it’s Zenith. He became friends with Edouard Marcel Sandoz and regularly frequented his menagerie at his studio at the Villa Alésia.
Having decided to become an animalier, he regularly visited the ‘Jardin des Plantes’ where he followed the teachings of François Pompon.

When it comes to his sculptures, Petersen emphasised an extreme simplification of profile, however he still managed to keep the animal-like nature of his subjects. 
In 1927, his artworks were displayed for the first time in the ‘Brandt Gallery’ in Paris. Critics hailed his work and his participations in the Parisian salons increased. In 1928, he collaborated with the ‘Manufacture de Sèvres’ to create editions in soft coloured sandstone of his pure-shaped sculptures. The ‘Royal Copenhagen’ also edited some of his works in porcelain. 

As of 1928, he took part in the animal sculptors exhibitions and was later invited to join the exhibitions of the “Groupe des douzes”, a group created on the initiative of Pompon in 1931. 
By that time, his sculptures were placed amongst the artworks of Pompon but also alongside the works of Charles Artus, Georges-Lucien Guyot and Paul Jouve. The exhibitions followed one after another and Petersen’s reputation continued to grow. 

Always depicting animals at rest, PETERSEN still manages to give his subjects a glimpse of tension and thus creates a sense of primitivity within his subjects. His sculptures with their smooth and clean lines, imbued with elegance and sensibility, make him one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century. The patinas of his bronzes are often very sophisticated, arousing interest from art lovers around the world.