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Lot Essay
This pair of pictures was formerly in the remarkable collection of Etienne-François, duc de Choiseul. Two extraordinary visual records make it possible to reconstruct the taste of Choiseul's collection: the 'Choiseul box' (1770-1; Paris, Baron Elie de Rothschild private collection), a gold snuff-box made by Louis Roucel with miniature views by Louis-Nicolas van Blarenberghe, depicting Choiseul and his friends at his Paris hôtel in the rue de Richelieu, surrounded by his collection; and the 1771 catalogue of the collection by Pierre-François Basan, consisting of 124 engravings of Choiseul's finest pictures and one of the earliest catalogues of a private collection to be copiously illustrated.
Although he had begun to collect earlier (including Dou's Sick Woman in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, and the Poulterer's Shop in the National Gallery, London), Choiseul started to buy in earnest following his marriage in 1750 to Louise-Honorine du Châtel, great-niece and heiress of Pierre Crozat. His wife inherited the hôtel shown in Van Blarenberghe's miniatures, as well as a few pictures including Watteau's Summer (Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art) and Tintoretto's Judith and Holofernes (Madrid, Prado). Choiseul himself bought with discernment at the big Parisian and Netherlandish art sales, as well as from great private collections, building up one of the finest holdings of northern paintings ever assembled. Among his pictures were eight works by Rembrandt (for example the Finding of Moses; Philadelphia, PA, Mus. A.), Gerard ter Borch's Woman Playing a Theorbo to Two Men (London, National Gallery), Claude's Mercury and Io (Dublin, National Gallery) and, displaying an original taste for the time, Louis Le Nain's Forge (Paris, Louvre). During his time as ambassador in Rome, Choiseul had himself painted with friends by Giovanni Paolo Panini in an Imaginary Gallery of Ancient Roman Art (1757; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art). Choiseul fell from favour at the end of 1770 and, banished to his château at Chanteloup, was forced by financial difficulties to sell his collection, which took place at the Hôtel de Choiseul from 6 to 10 April 1772.
The attribution has been confirmed by Dr. Margret Klinge upon first-hand inspection of the pictures. The pictures will be sold with a copy of the certificate of authenticity by Dr. Klinge, dated June 2017. Dr. Klinge dates this pair to the artist's Brussels period in the 1660s.
Although he had begun to collect earlier (including Dou's Sick Woman in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, and the Poulterer's Shop in the National Gallery, London), Choiseul started to buy in earnest following his marriage in 1750 to Louise-Honorine du Châtel, great-niece and heiress of Pierre Crozat. His wife inherited the hôtel shown in Van Blarenberghe's miniatures, as well as a few pictures including Watteau's Summer (Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art) and Tintoretto's Judith and Holofernes (Madrid, Prado). Choiseul himself bought with discernment at the big Parisian and Netherlandish art sales, as well as from great private collections, building up one of the finest holdings of northern paintings ever assembled. Among his pictures were eight works by Rembrandt (for example the Finding of Moses; Philadelphia, PA, Mus. A.), Gerard ter Borch's Woman Playing a Theorbo to Two Men (London, National Gallery), Claude's Mercury and Io (Dublin, National Gallery) and, displaying an original taste for the time, Louis Le Nain's Forge (Paris, Louvre). During his time as ambassador in Rome, Choiseul had himself painted with friends by Giovanni Paolo Panini in an Imaginary Gallery of Ancient Roman Art (1757; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art). Choiseul fell from favour at the end of 1770 and, banished to his château at Chanteloup, was forced by financial difficulties to sell his collection, which took place at the Hôtel de Choiseul from 6 to 10 April 1772.
The attribution has been confirmed by Dr. Margret Klinge upon first-hand inspection of the pictures. The pictures will be sold with a copy of the certificate of authenticity by Dr. Klinge, dated June 2017. Dr. Klinge dates this pair to the artist's Brussels period in the 1660s.