In 1864 he created a bust of Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, the magician who owned and appeared in the theatre below Disdéri’s studio. Other notable works include a bust of Beethoven, created in 1868. His most successful work is considered a statuette of the musician Niccolò Paganini, created in 1832.

Born in a family of sculptors, Jean-Pierre Dantan started his apprenticeship with his father, an ornamental wood-carver and entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1823. After spending two years in Rome, Dantan returned to France in 1831, where he set about producing his statuettes caricaturing men and women prominent in the world of art, theatre, music and letters. He found his inspiration in artistic circles, and always refused to show any political engagement. Considered in his day to be the originator of caricature portraits, Dantan paved the way for Honoré Daumier’s (1808-1879) series of satirical busts of members of the Parlement.

He died at Baden-Baden in 1869 and was buried in the family tomb in Père Lachaise. In accordance with the artist’s wishes, his widow donated a large collection of his works to the Musée Carnavalet in Paris in 1888.