A proposed bronze statue portraying Carla Bruni-Sarkozy as a poor Italian feather-plucker is ruffling political feathers in the Paris suburbs. The centre-right mayor of Nogent-sur-Marne won support for a two-metre-high, €82,000 (£67,000) statue to commemorate the "plumassières" – women of Italian origin who worked in the feather industry in the town from the 19th century. He failed to inform his council that he had asked President Sarkozy's Italian-born supermodel and pop-singer wife, to pose for the statue.Related Stories