François Boucher

With Galerie Cailleux, Paris;
Ernest-Émile-Albert-Joseph Masurel, Roubaix (Nord), near Lille,
by inheritance to a Private Collection,
where acquired by the present owner in 2002

Paris, Galerie Charpentier, La Vie familiale: scènes et portraits, 1944, no. 22;
New York, Wildenstein, French Drawings, Watercolours and Pastels, 2004 (no catalogue);
New York, Wildenstein, The Arts of France from François I^er to Napoléon I^er:  A Centennial Celebration of Wildenstein's Presence in New York, 2005-6, no. 91, reproduced, p. 234

N. Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, London 2006, p. 71, reproduced

Laid down on original 18th Century mount. Overall in good condition. Pastel remains strong and vibrant. Sheet relatively free from staining/foxing. Sold in a gilded and decorative 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 very characteristic and charming pastel by Boucher, which probably dates from the second half of the 1760s, is closely related to an oval version of the same composition, executed in oils, now in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (fig. 1).¹  Another version of that painting, with slight differences, is in a private collection in Westphalia², and a copy of the present drawing was sold, London, Christie's, 6 July 1976, lot 103.  Though traditionally referred to as a depiction of The Virgin and Child, the image is not obviously different in spirit from Boucher's characteristic secular images of domestic and pastoral subjects, and indeed the artist included an almost identical mother and child in his monumental 1767 painting, Return from the Market (Boston, Museum of Fine Arts).³  

We are grateful to Alastair Laing for confirming the attribution, on the basis of a photograph. 

¹  inv. 57.2; P. Rosenberg and M.C. Stewart, French Paintings 1500-1825: The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco 1987, pp. 110-113

²  Sold New York, Christie's, 15 January 1988, lot 133

³  A. Ananoff, François Boucher, Lausanne/Paris 1976, vol. II, pp. 286-8, no. 661, reproduced p. 285, fig. 1722