James Pradier was born in Geneva to a French Hugenot family and left his hometown aged eighteen to continue his studies in Paris. He won the Prix de Rome which allowed him to study at the Villa Medici from 1814-18 together with other promising sculptors such as David d’Angers. Back in Paris he began exhibiting at the Salon and soon became a successful artist with numerous public and private commissions. His work combines an elegant neoclassicism together with a keenly observed sensuality. Amongst his most well-known works are the four low reliefs of Fame on the Arc de Triomphe (1829-34) and Monument to Rousseau in bronze in Geneva (1835). He returned to Rome three times later in his career in the hope of establishing a second studio and worked for prestigious patrons there such as the Prince Demidov.

The original life-size version of Odalisque was carved by Pradier in marble and exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1841; it was bought by the French state and is now in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Lyon. Like numerous other 19th Century artists and writers Pradier was interested in oriental subjects at a time when it was fashionable to travel to exotic destinations. He edited Odalisque in bronze in two sizes during his lifetime; the current example being the larger format. The details of the roses in her hair and the feather fan at her feet are carefully rendered and the artist has brilliantly captured the very moment the young woman is looking up as someone/the viewer intrudes into her space.