François Boucher

Bears the drystamp of the mounter, Jean Baptiste Glomy (L.1085);
Marquis de Marigny, sale of his estate, Paris, 18 March 1782 and following days, lot 289 (together with the following lot);
Veil-Picard collection;
sale, Paris, Artcurial, 19 June 2007, lot 21 (together with the following lot)

A. Ananoff, François Boucher, Lausanne/Paris 1976, vol. II, p. 161, no. 483/1, fig. 1363

Laid down. Overall in good condition. Blue paper has faded. Chalk remains strong. Some light brown staining upper center. Sold in 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This and the following lot represent Boucher's first thoughts for the compositions of the central images in two of the famous series of tapestries, woven at the royal Gobelins manufactory, which are known as Les Tentures de Boucher.  Full of energy and imagination, these drawings are the work of Boucher at the peak of his powers, and the energy that he obviously put into these designs also reflects the great importance to him of this major Royal commission.

The origin of the series can be traced back as far as November 1755, when the Marquis de Marigny proposed to the King the commissioning of seven major paintings to be turned into tapestries, with the intention of reanimating the Gobelins manufactory.  As Alastair Laing has kindly informed us, this drawing and the following lot can actually be identified in the posthumous sale of the Marquis de Marigny's own collection.  The tapestries were eventually produced over a lengthy period, from 1763 to 1788, initially under the supervision of Jacques Neilson.  Four of the compositions, including those based on these two drawings, were allegorical representations of the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water.  The present composition, the allegory of Water, shows Neptune coming to the rescue of the nymph Amymone, who had gone into the drought-stricken wilderness in search of water, only to be set upon by a lustful satyr.  (Boucher does not dwell on the subsequent episode of the story, in which Neptune then himself seduces Amymone, who bears him a son.)

Boucher's painted version of this composition, dated 1764 and now in Versailles, differs from the present drawing in some relatively minor details.¹ In the subsequent tapestry, although the form of the central cartouche that contains the main image mirrors the present drawing, the compositional details are closer to those seen in the painting rather than the drawing.²  

¹ Ananoff, op. cit, pp. 160-161, no. 483, fig. 1358

² Ananoff, op. cit., pp. 160-163, no. 483/6, fig. 1360