Louis Carrogis called Carmontelle
Two portrait studies, in profile, each depicting a young boy dressed in a blue jacket with a white collar
Lot Closed
July 6, 01:05 PM GMT
Estimate
2,000 - 3,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Louis Carrogis called Carmontelle
Paris 1717 - 1806
Two portrait studies, in profile, each depicting a young boy dressed in a blue jacket with a white collar
Both black chalk with touches of red chalk and gouache, oval
Each: 110 by 85 mm (oval)
(2)
We are grateful to Neil Jeffares, who has kindly proposed an alternative attribution to Jean-François Guillet, called Vallière (Paris 1743 – 1806 Commercy). Mr. Jeffares has also provided a number of examples of very comparable works that convincingly support his attribution.
Anonymous sale, Monaco, Sotheby's, 8 December 1984, lot 7;
Collection Professor Dr Drs Anton C.R. Dreesmann, Laren, inv. no B111;
Collection Mrs Marianne L. Dreesmann-van der Spek, Laren, inv. no B010,
her sale, Paris, Sotheby's, The Marianne L. Dreesmann-van der Spek Collection, 12 July 2021, lot 106
Collection Professor Dr Drs Anton C.R. Dreesmann, Laren, inv. no B111;
Collection Mrs Marianne L. Dreesmann-van der Spek, Laren, inv. no B010,
her sale, Paris, Sotheby's, The Marianne L. Dreesmann-van der Spek Collection, 12 July 2021, lot 106
These charming portrait studies, each depicting a young boy, drawn in profile and dressed in a blue jacket with a white collar, are two splendid examples of Carmontelle’s genius in the genre of portraiture and demonstrate a more miniaturist approach in comparison to his full length portraits.
Carmontelle entered the service of Louis Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, in 1759 and enjoyed a buoyant career there, organising official entertainments and later also becoming a garden designer, creating what is now the Parc Monceau. Over the course of some 34 years, Carmontelle made more than 750 portraits of the Orléans family, their court, and other friends and acquaintances, which were bound in eleven albums. The majority of the sitters were drawn full length and in profile and he executed the portraits mostly for himself and would only produce replicas on request.
At the end of his life, Carmontelle gave the names of all the sitters in his portraits to his great friend Richard de Lédans who compiled a manuscript list, now in the museum at Chantilly, where there are 570 portraits from the original group. The albums remained intact until in the possession of Pierre de La Mésangère, who dismantled them and mounted each drawing on a distinctive green mount.
A similarly executed oval portrait of a man in profile, from the Georges Dormeuil Collection, was sold in these Rooms in 2014.1
1. Sale, London, Sotheby's, 9 July 2014, lot 68
Carmontelle entered the service of Louis Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, in 1759 and enjoyed a buoyant career there, organising official entertainments and later also becoming a garden designer, creating what is now the Parc Monceau. Over the course of some 34 years, Carmontelle made more than 750 portraits of the Orléans family, their court, and other friends and acquaintances, which were bound in eleven albums. The majority of the sitters were drawn full length and in profile and he executed the portraits mostly for himself and would only produce replicas on request.
At the end of his life, Carmontelle gave the names of all the sitters in his portraits to his great friend Richard de Lédans who compiled a manuscript list, now in the museum at Chantilly, where there are 570 portraits from the original group. The albums remained intact until in the possession of Pierre de La Mésangère, who dismantled them and mounted each drawing on a distinctive green mount.
A similarly executed oval portrait of a man in profile, from the Georges Dormeuil Collection, was sold in these Rooms in 2014.1
1. Sale, London, Sotheby's, 9 July 2014, lot 68