Philippe Mercier

Anonymous sale ("The Property of a Gentleman"), London, Christie's, 8 May 1897, lot 15 (as P. Mercier);

E. Hodgkin, New York, 1916;

With Wildenstein & Co., London, 1931 until at least 1969;

Captain R.P. McCormack;

By whom sold ("The Property of Capt. R. P. McCormack"), London, Sotheby's, 10 July 1974, lot 129;

With Rafael Valls, London;

Where acquired by the late collector.

London, Wildenstein, Portraits of the 15th to 19th Centuries, 10 July - 10 August 1963, no. 21;

York, City Art Gallery; London, Iveagh Bequest Kenwood, Philippe Mercier, 1689-1760, 21 June - 28 September 1969, no. 56 (lent by Wildenstein & Co., London);

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, An Elegant Art: Fashion and Fantasy in the Eighteenth Century, 3 March - 2 June 1983 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. David H. Murdock).

R. Rey, Quelques satellites de Watteau, Paris 1931, p. 80, cat. no. 1;

J. Ingamells, Philip Mercier, 1689-1760, exhibition catalogue, London 1969, p. 49, cat. no. 56;

J. Ingamells and R. Raines, "A Catalogue of the Paintings, Drawings, and Etchings of Philippe Mercier," in The Walpole Society, vol. 46, 1976-8, pp. 5, 53 cat. no. 225.

In a warmly lit, neutral interior a girl in a delicate floral dress and lace bonnet is at work on lace making at a window, while a young man in a gold-trimmed red jacket sits beside her, grating snuff. While she is focused on the task at hand, he looks longingly, directly at her, leaning in with admiration. There is a gentleness and innocence to the scene, emphasized by the soft light and quiet expressions so carefully painted by Mercier, though the man's rasp and body language is suggestive of a more lustful subject matter.

Though German-born, Philippe Mercier spent most of his career in England, settling in London around 1716 after training under Antoine Pesne in Berlin and traveling in France and Italy. He was appointed court painter to the Prince and Princess of Wales a few years later, though ultimately the artist fell out of favor and moved to York, where he painted portraits and eventually moved on to genre subjects such as the present painting.

This charming painting dates from the latter half of Mercier's time in York, a period widely regarded as the artist's most fruitful and important art historically. It was at this time that he began to focus less on portraits and more on conversation pieces, often innocent and sentimental subjects with charming anecdotes or connections to mythology. He began to produce paintings with the print market in mind, and many of his compositions were engraved and sold by the subscription. The roots of some of these subjects, such as concert scenes or children blowing bubbles can be traced back to the Utrecht Caravaggists like Honthorst and ter Brugghen, and Mercier's take on more sentimental subjects such as the present example were likely inspired by contemporaries like Jean-Baptiste Chardin.