18thC. THE GREENGROCER. After FRANS VAN MIERIS. By BALTHASAR DUNKER

Description: "THE GREENGROCER" To left, the lady greengrocer stands with a basket of fruit and vegetables, and she holds a set of scales in her left hand. Her customer is an elderly woman standing in a doorway. In the bottom right corner, a wheelbarrow full of vegetables. Dutch genre scene etching by BALTHASAR ANTON DUNKER (1746-1807) after the painting by FRANS VAN MIERIS THE ELDER in the Collection of the Duc de Choiseul. 1771. Signed by Dunker in the top left corner and inscribed in the caption area with its impressive typography and the coat-of-arms of the Duc de Choiseul. Size: 212 x 172 mm. (platemark area) Condition/Technical: Good condition. Trimmed close to/on to the platemark line of the left side, with good margins on the other three sides. Well inked with good tonal contast, a fine impression. Printed on thick "laid" 18th century paper. Check it out online - Reference: British Museum 1858,0417.1147 Bibliography: Hollstein, Dutch and Flemish...20a.Nicolas (Catalogue Raisonnee) 29.22 My penultimate photo shows the title page to the volume, just for further provenance. Median price point for the series is in my last photo, for comparison. THE PATRON: Etienne-Francois, Duc de Choiseul (1719-1785). After a distinguished career in the French Army, he married the daughter of Crozat (himself a notable art collector) and thereby gained the patronage of Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV. He was made Ambassador to the Holy See in Rome, and subsequently became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of War. After Pompadour's death in 1772 he fell from favour, was disgraced and went into exile. Throughout his life he amassed a huge art collection, mainly works of the Northern schools by the Dutch and Flemish Old Masters. Some of his collection was sold off in 1772, and the remainder was dispersed by further sale after his death. THE PROJECT: In around 1769-1770 Choiseul approached the leading art expert, engraver and publisher Pierre-Francois Basan, who had a large studio in Paris. The project was to engrave the Choiseul collection and to publish it in the form of a catalogue. This was to be a vast and prestigious project, we may surmise with no expense spared, and Basan put together a large team of accomplished engravers and draughtsmen to work on it, all under his personal supervision. These included Dunker, Masquelier, Jeanne Deny, Delvaux, J.P.Le Bas, Weisbrod, Baquoy, Daudet, De Launay, Levesque and others. The final result of this long project was the "Recueil d'estampes gravees d'apres les tableaux du Cabinet de Monseigneur le Duc de Choiseul" which appeared in 1772 - despite the title page bearing the date 1771. A total of 127 works were depicted, and although some of the attributions have changed in modern times (especially to the "Rembrandts") many of the paintings have vanished from public view, and so the prints made are an important part of the art historical record.There is of course an irony about all this - the project, so long in the planning and execution, was completed at a time which more or less coincided with Choiseul's fall from grace. ***ALL MY ITEMS ARE SENT, UK and worldwide, using Tracked service of Royal Mail, for everybody's peace of mind. I am also happy to combine shipping if there's more than one of my items that you wish to buy.

Price: 34.99 GBP

Location: Wadhurst

End Time: 2024-09-25T19:12:56.000Z

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