Carpeaux debuted at the Salon in 1853 exhibiting La Soumission d'Abd-el-Kader al'Empereur, a bas-relief in plaster that did not attract much attention.

After initially not making any contact with the emperor, he finally succeeded in arranging a face-to-face encounter at Amiens where he managed to convince Napoléon to commission a marble statue that was to be carried out by a practitioner, Charles Romain Capellaro.

[1] While a student in Rome, Carpeaux submitted a plaster version of Pêcheur napolitain à la coquille, the Neapolitan Fisherboy, to the French Academy.

The statue of the young smiling boy was very popular, and Carpeaux created a number of reproductions and variations in marble and bronze.

[2] He employed his brother as the sales manager and made a calculated effort to produce work that would appeal to a larger audience.