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Lot Essay
Dated 1760, this large study of a Kalmyk was most certainly executed from life; Le Prince had embarked on his journey to Russia already by 1758 to work for Catherine the Great and had returned to France via Poland by September 1762. During his trip, Le Prince formed a collection of sketches, records of costumes, customs and landscapes of the different provinces, which now constitutes a valuable source of information on this period of Russian history.
The Kalmyks were a nomadic group of Mongol Buddhists, legendary for their archery skills, who settled in Russia’s North Caucasus territory, near the Volga River. This drawing of a Kalmyk archer closely relates to an etching and aquatint, of smaller size and in reverse, signed and dated 1771, of which an impression can be found in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (inv. SP.357; see J. Hédou, Jean Le Prince et son oeuvre, Paris, 1879, p. 154, no. 131, ill.). It is the only known etching by Le Prince of a sole figure of a Kalmyk. Although the 1771 etching differs in that the archer depicted is younger, his face is turned towards the viewer and his outer hand is raised from his sword, the details of the dress and weaponry suggest that the artist may have used the present work as a working drawing for the print he executed almost then later.
The drawings Le Prince produced in Russia, such as the present one, fuelled a general interest for exotica, specifically for russeries, during the second half of the eighteenth century.
The Kalmyks were a nomadic group of Mongol Buddhists, legendary for their archery skills, who settled in Russia’s North Caucasus territory, near the Volga River. This drawing of a Kalmyk archer closely relates to an etching and aquatint, of smaller size and in reverse, signed and dated 1771, of which an impression can be found in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (inv. SP.357; see J. Hédou, Jean Le Prince et son oeuvre, Paris, 1879, p. 154, no. 131, ill.). It is the only known etching by Le Prince of a sole figure of a Kalmyk. Although the 1771 etching differs in that the archer depicted is younger, his face is turned towards the viewer and his outer hand is raised from his sword, the details of the dress and weaponry suggest that the artist may have used the present work as a working drawing for the print he executed almost then later.
The drawings Le Prince produced in Russia, such as the present one, fuelled a general interest for exotica, specifically for russeries, during the second half of the eighteenth century.