Jean-Michel Moreau, called Moreau Le Jeune

Laurent François Prault, Paris,
his sale, Paris, Hôtel de Bullion (Catalogue de tableaux des écoles flamande et françoise, pastels, gouaches, dessins, estampes ...qui composent le Cabinet de feu M. Prault, Imprimeur du Roi), 27 November 1780 and following days, lot 72;
Jean-Louis David, Louveciennes and Paris,
his sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot (Tableaux anciens, aquarelles & dessins de l'École Française... Collection de Feu M. Jean-Louis David, peintre, dessinateur du Cabinet de l'Empereur), 18-19 March 1868, lot 92,
acquired at this sale by Marie-Joseph-François Mahérault, 
his sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 27-29 May 1880, lot 152;
Private collection;
Sale, Paris, Nouveau Drouot (Collection de Monsieur X....dessins anciens et modernes), 27 March 1985, lot 53,
where acquired by the present owner
 

New York, Wildenstein, The Arts of France from François I^er to Napoleon I^er: A Centennial Celebration of Wildenstein's Presence in New York, 2005-2006, no. 96 (entry states incorrectly that the drawing once belonged to Jacques Louis David), reproduced

M.-J.-F. Mahérault, L'Oeuvre de Moreau le jeune: catalogue raisonné et descriptif avec notes iconographiques et bibliographiques, Paris 1880, p. 495, no. 540

Laid down on japan paper which is hinged to the top of window mount. A few small holes, located lower left corner that have been repaired - visible verso. Overall in good condition, medium remains strong. Sold in 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.

Moreau Le Jeune trained under the painter and engraver, Louis Joseph Le Lorrain whom he accompanied to St Petersburg in 1758, after Lorrain was appointed as the first Director of the City's Academy of Fine Arts.  Moreau returned to Paris in 1759, entering the workshop of the engraver, Jacques Philippe Lebas, where he was to spend the majority of the 1760s executing drawings for book illustrations.  In 1781 he became draughtsman and engraver to Louis XVI.  Moreau also drew and engraved scenes of fashionable French life.

This charming drawing, dated 1765, portrays a family sitting around a table on a trellised terrace. Three fashionably dressed ladies and a gentleman in his dressing gown listen with rapt attention to a standing man, possibly a lawyer or magistrate.  The servant to the right of the scene also appears to be distracted by this gentleman's speech, and has knocked over a bottle of wine.

The fascinating provenance of this sheet begins with the publisher Laurent François Prault, whose niece married Moreau le Jeune in the year this drawing was executed.  It was also owned by Jean-Louis David, chief draftsman attached to the private chambers of Emperor Napoleon III, and then by Marie-Joseph-François Mahérault, author of the most extensive monograph on Moreau le Jeune (see Literature).