.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Marie Leszczynska (1703-1768), daughter of King Stanislas Leszczynski of Poland, married Louis XV in 1725 when he was fifteen years old.
An almost identical pair of miniatures are in the Wallace Collection, London (M284 and M285; Reynolds, op. cit., illustrated no. 39 and 40) where the portrait of Marie Leszczynska is indistinctly signed Mo. Le Jeune. This work was previously attributed to Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune (1741-1814) but recent research has brought to light the existence of André-Claude Martin Lefevre d'Orgeval. Lefevre d'Orgeval is listed in the acts of bankruptcy in the Archives de Paris (D. 4B6 carton 23, dossier 1263) and his profession is recorded as Peintre en miniature. Until this discovery, nothing was known about the miniaturist who signed his works Le Feure and who is briefly described by Leo Schidlof as 'a miniaturist in France about 1750' (L. R. Schidlof, The Miniature in Europe, Graz, 1964, I, p. 480).
Lefevre d'Orgeval is recorded as living at the quai Pelletier, in the Parish of Saint-Germain and was declared bankrupt on 8 March 1763. His list of badly paying clients including many of the leading aristocracy of the day; the duc de Brancas, the Prince of Anhalt, the princesse de Rohan, the princesse de Guemenée, the comte d'Egmont, Lord Hamilton and many others. It is tempting to believe that within this circle, Lefevre d'Orgeval would have also received Royal commissions.
These miniatures are painted after the portraits traditionally attributed to Jean-Baptiste Van Loo in the Musée de Versailles (inventory nos. 2175 and 3754), painted circa 1725.
An almost identical pair of miniatures are in the Wallace Collection, London (M284 and M285; Reynolds, op. cit., illustrated no. 39 and 40) where the portrait of Marie Leszczynska is indistinctly signed Mo. Le Jeune. This work was previously attributed to Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune (1741-1814) but recent research has brought to light the existence of André-Claude Martin Lefevre d'Orgeval. Lefevre d'Orgeval is listed in the acts of bankruptcy in the Archives de Paris (D. 4B6 carton 23, dossier 1263) and his profession is recorded as Peintre en miniature. Until this discovery, nothing was known about the miniaturist who signed his works Le Feure and who is briefly described by Leo Schidlof as 'a miniaturist in France about 1750' (L. R. Schidlof, The Miniature in Europe, Graz, 1964, I, p. 480).
Lefevre d'Orgeval is recorded as living at the quai Pelletier, in the Parish of Saint-Germain and was declared bankrupt on 8 March 1763. His list of badly paying clients including many of the leading aristocracy of the day; the duc de Brancas, the Prince of Anhalt, the princesse de Rohan, the princesse de Guemenée, the comte d'Egmont, Lord Hamilton and many others. It is tempting to believe that within this circle, Lefevre d'Orgeval would have also received Royal commissions.
These miniatures are painted after the portraits traditionally attributed to Jean-Baptiste Van Loo in the Musée de Versailles (inventory nos. 2175 and 3754), painted circa 1725.