The present bust represents the early period, during which Hildebrand developed his skills in marble carving. In the workshops of the great sculptors of the nineteenth century, from Canova and Thorvaldsen to Rodin, marble sculpture was traditionally executed by practitioners after a plaster model by the artist. Only the final treatment of the surface was left to the hand of the master. Rodin hardly ever touched a chisel. He employed great artists including Antoine Bourdelle and Charles Despiau as practitioners, and left the entire completion of his marble sculptures to them. Hildebrand was tile first artist in the nineteenth century who was personally involved with the carving from beginning to end. Only after 1910, when he lacked the physical strength, did he delegate the carving to his assistants.

Angela Hass stated about the present bust that "the liveliness of the plaster model in comparison to the somewhat neo-Classical smooth marble execution of the bust suggests the suspicion that Hildebrand's collaborator Gabriello Polumbo participated in the execution." This opinion has been opposed by Sigrid Braunfels-Esche, who wrote the catalogue raisonné of Hildebrand's work. According to her information, Polumbo was a laborer who assisted Marées and Hildebrand in preparing thc walls when thc two artists painted frescoes in Naples. Hildebrand subsequently employed Polumbo as a studio assistant. In thc 1890's Polumbo helped with thc execution of some decorative details on tile Wittelsbach Fountain in Munich. Sigrid Braunfels-Esche considers it quite unlikely, that Hildebrand would have let Polumbo work on a piece that meant a lot to the artist. She thinks it much more likely that Hildebrand himself carved the marble, as he was very fond of the sitter, who was a family member. Finally, it was Hildebrand's intent to reduce the details of the plaster when he carved a marble. It was one of his principles that each medium required its specific treatment.

The sitter of the present bust was the daughter of tile publisher Friedrich Bruckmann. She was married to the paper manufacturer Alfred Schäuffelen, a brother of Hildebrand's wife. The beautiful and lively Eugenie was a known figure in Munich's artistic and social circles, Franz von Lenbach painted several portraits of her, and so did Hans Makart. During her visit in Florence in 1878. Hildebrand modeled the bust in plaster. At the same time he painted her portrait in profile. The finely carved features and the simple geometric base in the present bust are typical traits of the influence of Florentine Renaissance on Hildebrand's early portraits.