JEAN BAPTISTE JACQUES AUGUSTIN | A STUDY OF THREE OF THE MARQUIS DE BOMBELLES' CHILDREN AT PLAY, CIRCA 1784

By descent to Madeleine Pauline Augustin (1781-1865), the artist's wife;

to her niece, Justine-Henriette Cornut de La Fontaine de Coincy;

Alfred Cornut de La Fontaine de Coincy;

sale, Geneva, Christie's, 10 November 1987, lot 261;

where acquired by the late Dr Erika Pohl-Ströher (1919-2016)

M. Friesen, Französische Miniaturen 1770-1880, Darmstadt, 2001, p.396, no. 21

B. Pappe, Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin 1759-1832, une nouvelle excellence dans l'art du portrait en miniature, Verona, 2015, p. 235, no. 28

In this drawing Augustin depicts the three sons of Marc Marie, Marquis de Bombelles (1744-1822) and his wife Angelique Charlotte de Mackau (1762-1800). Their eldest, Louis Philippe (1780-1843) became a diplomat, the middle son, Charles-René (1784-1856), joined the army and married - morganatically - Napoleon's widow, Marie Louis, Duchess of Parma, while the youngest, Henri François (1789-1850), served under Emperor Franz Joseph at the Austrian court.

This drawing is a preparatory study for a miniature of the same subject that was formerly part of the collections of James A. de Rothschild of Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire.¹

For further information on Dr Erika Polh-Ströher please see lot 244.

1. B. Pappe, Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin 1759-1832, une nouvelle excellence dans l'art du portrait en miniature, Verona, 2015, p. 235, no. 29