Charles Parrocel

Camille Groult (1837-1908), Paris,
by descent to his son, Jean Groult (1868-1951)
and grandson Pierre Bordeaux-Groult (1916-2007),
from whom acquired by the present owner in 1983

J. Mathey, 'Aspects divers de Watteau dessinateur, dans la collection Groult,' L'Amour de L'Art, vol. XIX, no. 10, December 1938, p. 372 (as Watteau);
J. Mathey, 'Remarques sur la chronologie des peintures et dessins d'Antoine Watteau,' Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de L'Art  Français, 1939, p. 159 (as Watteau);
K.T. Parker and J. Mathey, Antoine Watteau, catalogue complet de son oeuvre dessiné, 2 vols., Paris 1957, vol. II, pp. 349 and 350, no. 795, reproduced, fig. 795 (as Watteau);
M. Sérullaz, 'Deux dessins de Watteau', Revue du Louvre, 1981, I, pp. 31, 32, note 9 (as Watteau);
B. Bouret, 'L'Ambassade persane à en 1715 et son image', Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 6e pér., C, No. 1365, October 1982, p. 116, no. 4, reproduced p. 116 (as Watteau);
M. Roland Michel, Watteau, un artiste au XVIIIe siècle, London and Paris, 1984, p. 134 (as Watteau);
M.M. Grasselli, 'The Drawings of Antoine Watteau:  Stylistic Developments and Problems of Chronology' (unpubished Ph.D. dissertation, Havard University), 1987, vol. I, p. 169, note 134 (as Charles Parrocel);
M.M. Grasselli, 'Watteau's Use of the Trois-Crayons Technique', in W. Strauss and T. Felker, eds., Drawings Defined, New York 1987, pp. 185, 194, note 13;
P. Rosenberg and L-A. Prat, Antoine Watteau 1684-1712, Catalogue raisonné des dessins, 3 vols., Milan 1996, vol. I, p. 443, under no. 281, vol. III, pp. 1260-61, no. R420, reproduced (as Charles Parrocel)

Laid down. A small strip of paper added to upper left margin, towards upper left corner - perhaps covering a tear/hole. Light brown stains in the upper right section, barely visible. Red chalk remains reasonably fresh and strong. There are a few dots of what appears to be white gouache under the horse's head, possibly a studio stain. Sold in a carved and gilded frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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This much published drawing was always considered to be a sketch from life by Jean Antoine Watteau, depicting Mohammed Reza Beg, the leader of a highly important - and ultimately ill-fated - diplomatic embassy from Shah Husein of Persia to the French Court in 1714-16.  For a full account of this event, and of Watteau's depictions of the participants, see Pierre Rosenberg and Louis-Antoine Prat's catalogue entry for the splendid drawing from the series, now in the Louvre.¹

Margaret Morgan Grasselli was, however, the first to point out that the drawing actually served as a study for one of the figures in Charles Parrocel's depiction of a different, slightly later, diplomatic encounter, The arrival of the Turkish Ambassador at the Tuileries, 21 March 1721, a painting now in the Musée National du Château de Versailles.²  Stylistically, the drawing is perfectly consistent with that artist's work, and should certainly be attributed to Parrocel, rather then Watteau.

¹ Rosenberg - Prat, op. cit., vol. I, pp. 442-4

² Inv. no. MV 177