Original Item: Only One Available. This is a finely executed original Italian cast brass bust depicting Benito Mussolini in civilian dress, most likely dating from the early to mid-1930s Fascist period. The sculpture stands just over 7 inches high and portrays Mussolini as a relatively young statesman wearing a jacket and tie with a small fasces emblem on the lapel.

The model is quite early, as Mussolini is depicted in civilian clothes wearing a Fasces symbol on his lapel from the time when he was Prime Minister of Italy. It appears that this bronze was removed from a plinth or base and that it was vandalized which was very common after his death on April 28th, 1945. The bottom is hollow.

The quality of the detail and workmanship is second to none, this was a very high quality piece at the time of its making.

Benito Mussolini founded the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento in 1919 and became head of the Italian government following the March on Rome in October 1922.

He remained head of government until July 25, 1943, and from December 1925 held the formal title of Head of Government, Prime Minister and Secretary of State as the Fascist dictatorship consolidated power. Mussolini was removed from power in 1943, later headed the German-supported Italian Social Republic in northern Italy, and was captured and executed by Italian partisans on April 28, 1945.

This bust is best understood as a piece of Fascist-era political portraiture, produced during a period when images of Mussolini were distributed widely through Italian public institutions, offices, businesses, and private collections.

The combination of the civilian statesman presentation, fasces lapel emblem, high-quality hollow brass casting, youthful likeness, and surviving evidence of former mounting makes this an interesting example of Italian political sculpture from the interwar Fascist period.

Its exact maker and original installation remain unknown, while the style and iconography are most consistent with production during the 1930s.