Gabriel De Saint-Aubin

GABRIEL DE SAINT-AUBIN Spectacles de Tuileries: Les Chaises and Le Tonneau d'arrosage. Two etchings with drypoint, 1760-63. Both approximately 96x193 mm; 3 3/4x7 5/8 inches. Both in the second state (of 2). With thread margins on 3 sides, trimmed outside the border line lower margin. Superb impressions of these extremely scarce, important etchings, both with touches of velvety burr. Dacier 19. Estimate $20,000-30,000

LOT 66 GABRIEL-JACQUES DE SAINT-AUBIN PARIS 1724 - 1780 PARIS WELCOMING CHRISTIAN VII, KING OF DENMARK Black chalk with touches of pen and black ink; signed and dated lower left in pen and brown ink: G de St aubin fecit 9. X bre . 1768; bears pencil inscription, verso: La france acceuille La Princesse de Savoie 96 by 176 mm; 3 3/4 by 7 in

Gabriel-Jacques de Saint-Aubin (Paris 1724-1780)
A woman and a young child looking towards a walled house (recto); An architectural study (verso)
Add. Notes: signed, inscribed and dated 'vue de la maison/... GdSA 1776' black and red chalk, pen and brown ink, grey, brown and green wash, watermark bell below crowned heart 8 x 5½ in. (203 x 140 mm.)
Notes: A similar view, in reverse, in a sketchbook in Stockholm, bears the inscription 'de la terrasse des Dames de Montmartre' (E. Dacier, Le carnet de dessins de Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, Paris, 1955, pl. XVIII). The view was taken from what is now the Place Jean-Baptiste Clément at the corner of the Rue Ravignan and and the Rue de la Mire. On the verso of the present drawing is a view of the Chapelle de la Samaritaine with the arches of the Pont-Neuf.

Gabriel-Jacques de Saint-Aubin (Paris 1724-1780) The Muse of History carrying a portrait of Monsieur Philippe: forSpectacle de l'Histoire Romaine inscribed 'SPECTCLE DE L'HISTOIRE ROMAINE' and 'dionisius tacitussuetonius tite livius', signed and dated '.D. ... 1766', 'Pour MrPhilipe-' and 'La Muse de l'histoire, appuiée sur le médaillon deM. Philippe, montre du doit le Globe terrestre, pour indiquer quel'Etude de la Géographie est inséparable de celle de l'histoire.Sur un des livres qui accompagnent le portrait de l'auteur on lit:Spectacle de l'Histoire Romaine; auprès de Clio sont les ouvragesde Tacite, Titeive, Suétone &c.', and with inscription 'G. deSt. Aubin del. 1766.' on the mount black chalk on light brown paper, the portrait in black lead on anapplied oval of light blue paper 9 x 6 3/8 in. (225 x 163 mm.) Lot Notes This is an unused frontispiece for the Spectacle de l'HistoireRomaine written by Etienne-André Philippe, called Philippe dePrétot (1710-1787) and incompletely published between 1762 and1778. The project consisted of very precise illustrations ofepisodes from Roman History accompanied by a text by Philippe. Thefirst twenty plates were announced on 18 August 1762 and thefollowing twenty four years later. These were reprintedrespectively in 1776 and 1777. Eight supplementary plates appearedslightly later. Not only was the complete book never published, but Emile Daciercould not even find any past editions of the book. The prints areknown today only through the Abrégé de l'histoire romaine by theAbbé Millot which reuses Philippe's plates. Saint-Aubin designed 28plates for the original edition while the rest were made by J.B.Piauger, Eisen, Gravelot and a few others. The frontispiece usedfor Millot's edition is Piauger's, engraved by Tardieu. The style of this drawing is comparable to one of similar techniquedated 1767 in the Louvre (P. Rosenberg, Le Livre des Saint-Aubin,Paris, 2002, no. 11).

Gabriel-Jacques de Saint-Aubin (Paris 1724-1780) Portrait of King Louis XVI as Dauphin black chalk and black lead, watermark fleur-de-lys and M 279 x 217 mm. Provenance A. Beurdeley (L. 421); Paris, 13-15 March 1905, lot 223, as a portrait of Madame de Choiseul (555 fr. to Lemoine). Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 11 April 1978, lot 143 (to Dreesmann). Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann (inventory no. B-59). Literature E. Dacier, Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, peintre, dessinateur et graveur (1724-1780), II, Paris, 1931, no. 265 (as a 'Portrait de Femme'). Exhibited Paris, Exposition de la Ville de Paris, 1900. Lot Notes The sitter of this portrait has traditionally been identified as Queen Marie-Antoinette or the duchesse de Choiseul. However, Alastair Laing, in a letter dated 12 January 2002, has pointed out that the attributes and symbols more closely relate to the Dauphin, later King Louis XVI. Mr Laing notes that this image of the Dauphin dressed in riding attire, his hair held in a catogan, is an early study for the drawing formerly in the Goncourt Collection, E. Dacier, op. cit., no. 212, and E. Launay, Les frères Goncourt collectionneurs de dessins, Paris, 1991, no. 291, fig. 50. Mr Laing suggests a date of 1770 for the project, by deduction from the medal of King Louis IX, since that year was the 500th Anniversary of the Saint-King's death. It was also the year that the sixteen-year-old Dauphin married Marie-Antoinette of Austria, the sitter for the pendant portrait to the finished version, E. Dacier, op. cit., no. 219. The portrait of the Dauphine was engraved by Dambrun and published by Croissy in 1770 and again in 1776, with alterations for her accession to the throne as King Louis XVI's consort. The portrait of the Dauphin does not appear to have been engraved. In the present drawing, the Dauphin is flanked by a tiller symbolising wise government, and a yoke and plough, symbolising peace and prosperity. The tiller is inscribed with the name of Etienne François, duc de Choiseul, who was the King's leading minister from 1758 to 1770, while a cartouche in the lower left is inscribed 'Le duc de La Vauguyon', referring to the Dauphin's tutor. A study in the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, shows an intermediate design for the lower section, in which the reference to Choiseul has been removed, possibly due to his fall from favour in 1770 resulting from the machinations of Madame Du Barry, E. Dacier, op. cit., no. 78. In the Copenhagen drawing King Louis IX is replaced by Triptolemus, King of Eleusis, who was taught the mysteries of agriculture by Ceres. This refers to the Dauphin's alleged interest in farming which led to him being dubbed 'Le nouveau Triptolème', as recorded in number of popular prints of the period, E. Dacier, op. cit., II, p. 14.