The history of the Imperial Porcelain Factory in the later 18th century is closely linked with the activities of the French sculptor Jacques-Dominique Rachette (1744-1809), a graduate of the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen. He was invited to join the factory as master model-maker in 1779 and remained head of the sculptural section until 1804. Rachette's work led to the development of allegorical, mythological, genre and portrait sculpture. A general tendency among the European porcelain factories in the latter part of the 18th century was the reproduction in porcelain and biscuit (unglazed porcelain) of ancient sculptures and the works of famous 18th-century sculptors. In 1793 Rachette produced a model for a bust of Empress Catherine II after the marble original by Fedot Shubin (1783). The bust was manufactured in terracotta and biscuit.