D. M. (FRENCH, FL. C. 1788-1796), AFTER LOUIS-MARIE SICARDI (FRENCH, 1746-1825)

Prospective purchasers are advised that several co… Read more

THE PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN GENTLEMAN

Details

D. M. (FRENCH, FL. C. 1788-1796), AFTER LOUIS-MARIE SICARDI (FRENCH, 1746-1825)
Marie-Jacobée Prunet, née Balguerie (d. September 1829), in white muslin dress with knotted fichu and blue sash, pink rose at corsage, light blue striped bandeau in her curling upswept hair, holding a pansy in her left hand, seated and leaning against a stone wall; landscape background
signed with monogram and dated 'DM 178[.]' (lower right)
on ivory
3 in. (76 mm.) diam., modern gilt-metal frame with glazed reverse

Provenance

By family descent.
Christie's, London, 21 October 1997, lot 64.

Literature

M. Lauraine, Louis Marie Sicard dit Sicardi (1743-1825) peintre miniaturiste. Biographie, France, 2005, p. 165.
N. Lemoine-Bouchard, Les peintres en miniature actifs en France 1650-1850, Paris, 2008, p. 363.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Brought to you by

Matilda Burn

mburns@christies.com +44 (0)20 7752 3026

Lot Essay

An unsigned variant of the present miniature by Sicardi is in the Louvre (see P. Jean-Richard, Miniatures sur ivoire. Musée du Louvre. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 1994, no. 586).
Marie-Jacobée Balguerie, a daughter of Jean Balguerie and Marguerite Tarteyron, was married to André Prunet (d. 1799).
The sitter belonged to a well-known family of ship-owners from Bordeaux. This substantiates the theory put forward by Jacqueline Du Pasquier that the elusive artist D.M. worked in Bordeaux (see exhibition catalogue l'âge d'or du petit portrait, Bordeaux, Geneva, Paris, 1995-1996, pp. 48-49, 140, no. 205).

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