France Is About To Sends the U.S. a Smaller Statue of Liberty

This year's US Independence Day celebrations promise to be extra special due to the arrival of a second, smaller Statue of Liberty from France. The bronze replica, nicknamed "Little Sister," is expected to reach New York City in time for the Fourth of July festivities. The statue will be displayed on Ellis Island – across the water from the original Statue of Liberty, which sits on Liberty Island — from July 1 through 5, 2021. It will then be moved to the French Embassy in Washington, DC, where it will remain until 2031.

A replica of the Statue of Liberty began a journey this week from Paris to New York, officials in France said, sending the United States another, a much smaller monument to freedom and symbol of French-American friendship.

At under 10 feet tall, a 16th of her bigger sister’s size, the bronze statue was carefully hoisted from its place at a museum of inventions in Paris during a ceremony on Monday, according to a news release from the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts. The statue, which weighs nearly 1,000 pounds, had been on display at the museum, Musée des Arts et Métiers, for 10 years and will be placed in a specially designed plexiglass box for its nine-day voyage across the Atlantic.

The smaller statue, based on the original 1878 plaster model by the sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, was installed just outside the museum’s entrance in 2011. This statue was cast using a 3-D scan of another model in Paris, the news release said. It will be exhibited on Ellis Island from July 1-5, facing its much bigger sibling on Liberty Island. Then, it will be moved to the French ambassador’s residence in Washington, where it will be on display from July 14, France’s Bastille Day, until 2031.

There are over 100 replicas of the Statue of Liberty around the world, according to the conservatory. More than 30 are in France, including a handful in Paris.

Today the magnificent monument is one of New York City's most popular tourist attractions, drawing more than 4 million visitors annually. While it's diminutive "Little Sister" will probably not be as sought-after, it is sure to attract its fair share of fans at its new home in Washington, DC.