Jehan Georges Vibert

Probably, Goupil & Cie, Paris (no. 3181)
Probably, Knoedler & Co., New York (acquired from the above, December, 1867) 
James L. Claghorn, Philadelphia (by 1872 and sold, his sale, Kurtz Gallery, New York, April 18, 1877, lot 50, as Visit to the Ramparts)
Probably, Theron R. Butler, New York (by circa 1879)
George I. Seney, New York (and sold, his sale, American Art Association, April 1-2, 1885, lot 134, as Inspecting the Fort)
Daniel W. Powers (Powers Art Gallery), Rochester, New York (acquired at the above sale and sold, his sale, January 18-20, 1899, lot 239, as Inspecting the Fort)
William Randolph Hearst (acquired at the above sale)
Maxwell Galleries, San Francisco
Frederick Thom Gallery, Toronto
Sale: Sotheby's New York, February 24, 1987, lot 164, illustrated
Acquired at the above sale

Jehan-Georges Vibert, La Comédie en Peinture, Paris, 1902, vol. II, p. 156, illustrated
Probably, Edward Strahan, ed., The Art Treasures of America, Philadelphia, 1879, vol. II, p. 131; in the 1977 facsimile edition vol. III, p. 1116, 125

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This oil on panel is in very good state. The panel is flat and unreinforced. There is no instability to the surface. The work is probably clean. No retouches are apparent under ultraviolet light. There are a few slightly visible cracks in the figure standing furthest to the left, but the work is otherwise in perfect condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Painted in 1867. On the Ramparts was completed a year after Vibert’s celebrated Roll Call after the Pillage (sold in these rooms, October 18, 2008, lot 20, illustrated for $193,000) which similarly infused an ostensibly military subject with the characteristic wit of the artist's later paintings of red-robed cardinals (see lot 37). While the composition is an imagined vision of the eighteenth century, Vibert’s high level of detail (made possible via the artist’s large collection of weapons and period costumes) adds authenticity to the scene. 

By 1875 Roll Call after the Pillage had entered the famous collection of Henry C. Gibson, while On the Ramparts was acquired years earlier by fellow Philadelphian James L. Claghorn. One visitor to Claghorn's collection remarked in Lippincott’s magazine that he was transported "into the happiest phase of elegant comedy” by On the Ramparts, "the canon, as the accessories show, [has] never been used, and [is] more ordinance of ceremony.  The captains - one a fine spark, reprehensibly devoted to the entertainment of lady visitors, the other a pursy Bumble of etiquette… and the fluttering strangers wonder and gape over the battlements. Such a spirit would make sport of the Crusades and the defense of Troy” (“Private Galleries of Philadelphia", Lippincott’s Magazine, vol. 9, 1872, p. 42).  From Claghorn’s galleries, the subsequent provenance of On the Ramparts included a “who’s-who” assemblage of some of the greatest American collectors of the late nineteenth century: New York millionaire Theron R. Butler, then New York banker George Ingraham Seney, followed by connoisseur and gallery owner Daniel W. Powers, all before William Randolph Hearst.