Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - Bartholdi ya yi samfurin farko na ra'ayinsa a 1870. Dan wani aboki na Bartholdi, mai zane-zane na Amurka John LaFarge, daga baya ya tabbatar da cewa Bartholdi ya yi zane-zane na farko don mutum-mutumi a lokacin ziyarar da ya yi a Amurka a ɗakin La Farge na Rhode Island. Bartholdi ya ci gaba da haɓaka manufar bayan dawowarsa Faransa. Ya kuma yi aiki a kan wasu zane-zane da aka tsara don ƙarfafa ƙaunar Faransawa bayan da Prussians suka ci nasara. Ofaya daga cikin waɗannan shi ne "Zaki na Belfort", wani babban mutum-mutumin da aka sassaka a cikin dutsen sandstone a ƙarƙashin sansanin soja na Belfort, wanda a lokacin yaƙin ya yi tsayayya da kewaye da Prussian
fiye da watanni uku. Zaki mai tsananin kai, mai tsayi da rabi, yana nuna halayyar halayyar Romanticism, wanda Bartholdi daga baya zai kawo Statue of Liberty.