LOUIS-MARIE SICARDI (FRENCH, 1746-1825)

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Details

LOUIS-MARIE SICARDI (FRENCH, 1746-1825)
A young lady called Mademoiselle Victorine de Chastenay-Lanty, in white dress with laced green bodice and fichu, posy of forget-me-nots pinned at corsage, blue ribbon and large straw hat on her powdered frizzed hair dressed à la conseillère
on ivory
oval, 2 in. (50 mm.) high, gilt-metal frame with scrolling pierced silver border studded with diamonds

Provenance

J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) Collection, New York; Christie's, London, 24-27 June 1935, lot 658 (as 'Portrait of Madamoiselle Victorine de Chastenay-Lanty by Antoine Vestier', 100 gns. to T. Pardon).
Sotheby's, London, 13 December 1976, lot 54 (as 'A young lady by Louis-Lié Périn-Salbreux', to Dreesmann).
Dr Anton C. R. Dreesmann (1923-2000) Collection, inv. no. F-60; (+) Christie's, London, 11 April 2002, lot 762 (as 'A girl called Madamoiselle Victorine de Chastenay-Lanty by Louis Marie Sicardi').

Literature

G. C. Williamson, Catalogue of the Collection of Miniatures, The Property of J. Pierpont Morgan, IV, London, 1907, no. 560, p. 7, illustrated pl. CXCI, no. 3 (see catalogue note for description).
'In the Auction Rooms - The Morgan Miniatures', The Connoisseur, XCVI, 1935, p. 117, as by Vestier.
M. Lauraine, Louis Marie Sicard dit Sicardi (1743-1825). Peintre Miniaturiste. Biographie, [Paris], 2005, p. 159, no. 272 (as Mademoiselle Victorine de Chastenay-Lanty).

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.

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Katharine Cooke

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Lot Essay

G. C. Williamson supra records this miniature as of Madame de Chastenay-Lanty, by Antoine Vestier, in his 1907 publication of the Pierpont Collection of Miniatures. He describes her as, 'the sister of Henri Chastenay-Lanty, an officer in the guards, and a peer of France, who was imprisoned at the time of the Revolution, but was fortunate enough to escape. She was born about 1770, and died in 1830; was a clever writer, and especially remembered for her history of the Chivalry of France.'

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