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NY M81804




March 31, 2006

CLA-2-97:RR:NC:SP:233 M81804

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9703.00.0000

Ms. Aneta Chmiel
Masterpiece International, Ltd.
2300 Higgins Road, Suite 301
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-2618

RE: The tariff classification of sculptures from France.

Dear Ms. Chmiel:

In your letter dated March 17, 2006, you requested a tariff classification ruling for sculptures by Jean-Antoine Houdon.

Jean-Antoine Houdon was a French sculptor who was born in Versailles in 1741. Houdon began sculpturing at the age of nine and underwent training at Academie Royale. In 1761 Houdon won the Prix de Rome, and while in Rome (1764-68) he established his reputation with a large marble statue of St. Bruno and an anatomical study of a standing man, known as Ecorche, which brought him immediate fame and served later as the basis for replicas widely used for instruction. In 1770, two years after his return to Paris, he presented a reclining figure, Morpheus, as his reception piece for membership in the Academie Royale. He earned his livelihood, however, through portraiture; his sitters included Denis Diderot, Empress Catherine II the Great of Russia, and Benjamin Franklin. His religious and mythological works are definitive expressions of the decorative 18th-century Rococo style of sculpture. Houdon created four different busts of Voltaire in addition to the renowned seated figure of him at the Comedie-Francaise, for which he made first studies shortly before the death of the aged philosopher in 1778. Houdon modeled his sculpture in clay, although subsequent versions might be of marble, bronze, plaster, or clay. Houdon died in 1828.

Original sculptures made by the artist, limited to the first 12 in an edition, are classified in item 9703.00.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Original sculptures and statuary, in any material.” The rate of duty will be Free. Sculptures made in excess of 12 are not within the provision of heading 9703, HTSUS, and are dutiable according to their essential character.

Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Lawrence Mushinske at 646-733-3036.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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