Jean-Baptiste Pater

Camille Groult (1837-1908), Paris,
by descent to his son Jean Groult (1868-1951);
acquired in 1941 by Léon Lepeltier (1877-1960), Paris;
Sale, Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 8-9 June 1959, lot 145 (as Watteau, measurements incorrect);
Sale, Paris Palais Galliéra, 7 March 1970, lot 43 (as Watteau, measurements incorrect);
Sale, Versailles, Palais des Congrès, 24-25 May 1972, lot 48 (as Watteau, provenance incorrect);
Private collection

Nishinomiya, Otani Memorial Art Museum, Exposition Rococo: poésie et rêve de la peinture française au XVIIIe siècle, 1978, no. 3, reproduced

K.T.  Parker and J. Mathey, Antoine Watteau: catalogue complet de son oeuvre dessiné, Paris 1957, vol. I, p. 61, no. 446, reproduced fig. 446 (recto only catalogued and reproduced, as Watteau; verso given to Pater);
M.M. Grasselli, "The Drawings of Antoine Watteau: Stylistic Development and Problem of Chronology" (unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Harvard University) 1987, vol. I, pp. 223-224, p. 234 and note 19 (dating from circa 1714), reproduced vol. III, figs. 257, 275 (recto and verso);
P. Rosenberg and L.-A. Prat, Antoine Watteau, 1684-1721: catalogue raisonné des dessins, Milan 1996, vol. III, p. 1260, no. R422, recto and verso reproduced p. 1261

Window mounted. The window mount covering edges of recto. Full sheet visible verso - two strips of paper have been added to verso, one down the left margin and another at the top margin. Overall in very good condition. Red chalk vibrant both recto and verso. Few small faint brown stains at lower margin, recto and faint stains in the four corners of the sheet, verso, where sheet was previously laid down. 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.
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.

As the distinctive numbering in the lower right corner indicates, this double-sided drawing originates from the 'Album Groult,' an important volume of more than 500 sheets, the great majority of them by Pater, which was largely dispersed at auction in Paris on 19 December 1941.  The remaining portion of the album, including the present sheet, was acquired at the time of this sale by Léon Lepeltier.  Although most of the drawings in the album were by Pater, it also contained some by Watteau and others.  Indeed, Parker and Matthey (loc. cit.) considered the landscape on the recto of this double-sided sheet to be by Watteau, although they correctly attributed the figure drawings on the verso, the upper of which is a study for Pater's painting, La Matronne d'Ephèse¹, to that artist. 

Margaret Morgan Grasselli (loc. cit.) was the first to suggest that Pater was in fact the author of the drawings on both the recto and the verso, an opinion that has consequences for some other landscapes traditionally attributed to Watteau, but with which Pierre Rosenberg and Louis-Antoine Prat are in full agreement. 

A counterproof of the landscape on the recto is in a Paris private collection.²

¹ The painting apparently lost, known from a engraving by Filloeul: F. Ingersoll-Smouse, Pater, Paris 1928, p. 199, fig. 192

² Rosenberg - Prat, op. cit., vol. III, p. 1260, fig. R 422a