A fine miniature of a young gentleman, full face in dark grey coat and blue bordered white waistcoat, frilled cravat, powdered hair

Details

FRANÇOIS DUMONT (1751-1831)
A fine miniature of a young gentleman, full face in dark grey coat and blue bordered white waistcoat, frilled cravat, powdered hair
signed 'Dumont f.' (mid-right)
2¾ in. (70 mm.) diam., reeded gold frame with silver-mounted silk backing

Provenance

A. Crignon de Montigny Collection.
Thence by descent to his son, Gaston Crignon de Montigny; (+) Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 24 May 1889, lot 317 (450 gold francs to Helft, Paris).
Hermann Emden Collection, Hamburg; part IV, Rudolph Lepke's Kunst-Auctions-Haus, Berlin, 2 May 1911, lot 51 (sitter unidentified, sold 600 Reichsmark to Eltzbacher, Cologne).
Carl Eltzbacher Collection, Cologne.
Thence by descent to his son, Hans Eltzbacher; (+) Christie's, London, 8 June 1971, lot 72 (as St. Just, 400gns. to Jenkins).

Literature

H. Mireur, Dictionnaire des vents d'art, Paris, 1912, II, p. 569.
E. Bénézit, Dictionnaire des peintres [...], Paris, 1976, IV, p. 18.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The present miniature is a superb example of Dumont's post-revolutionary artistic output around 1797. Whereas the quality of his miniatures, due to a mass production, had declined during the French revolution, his portraits painted after 1794/95 show a fine and precise brushstroke with a strong modelling of the face as visible in the present miniature.
This miniature will be included in B. Hofstetter's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of François Dumont's works.

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