Old Master and British Works on Paper

French School, late 17th Century

Allegorical figures of Water and Fire

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Lot Closed

July 6, 01:06 PM GMT

Estimate

1,500 - 2,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

French School, late 17th century

Allegorical figures of Water and Fire

Tip of the brush and grey ink, with grey wash; both indented and reddened on the reverse for transfer

227 by 169 mm and 231 by 169 mm

(2)

Sale, London, Christie's, 26 March 1974, lot 118;
Lodewijk Houthakker (1926-2008), Amsterdam (L.3893);
sale, London, Sotheby's, 13 April 1992, lot 254

P. Fuhring, Design into Art. Drawings for Architecture and Ornament. The Lodewijk Houthakker Collection, London 1989, pp. 414-5, cats. 662-3, reproduced (as French School, last quarter of the seventeenth century)

As Peter Fuhring noted (see Literature), these drawings are very close in spirit and style to a number of prints made by various members of the Bonnart Family, including the brothers Nicolas (c.1637-1718), Henri (1642-1711), Robert (1652-1733) and Jean-Baptiste (1654-1726), as well as Nicolas's son, also Nicolas (1688-1762) who took over his father's printmaking and publishing business.

In particular, a set of images of female allegories of the Four Elements, published by Nicolas Bonnart the Elder, are very close in conception to the present drawings.¹ Even so, although these drawings are indented and reddened on the reverse for transfer to the engraver's plate, no corresponding prints have yet been identified.

1. Impressions can be found in the Edmond de Rothschild Collection at the Louvre, inv. nos. L68LR/88-91