FRENCH SCHOOL, CIRCA 1690/1695

Details

FRENCH SCHOOL, CIRCA 1690/1695
A pair of miniatures: a young lady called Louise-Bénédicte de Bourbon, Duchesse du Maine (1676-1753) as Diana the Huntress, in gold-trimmed blue velvet dress with lace chemise, gold striped white stole and gold damask cloak, drop pearl pendant suspended from corsage, pearl armlet and pearls and crescent in her upswept powdered hair; tree background; and a young lady called Marie-Anne de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Blois, Princesse de Conti (1666-1739), in white silk day dress with lace chemise, pale pink rose and foliage at corsage, blue cloak, flowers in her long curling hair; hedge and tree background
on vellum
ovals, 2 in. (61 mm.) wide, later silver-mounted circular frames set with rose-cut diamond scrolls and pierced scalloped borders, both with diamond-studded date 15 Juillet / 1769 on translucent blue guilloché enamel lunettes, plain silver-gilt backings

Provenance

The celebrated collection of the Royal Danish State Councillor Emil Glückstadt (1870-1923), Copenhagen; part IV, Winkel & Magnussen, Copenhagen, 2-5 June 1924, lots 236 and 237 (as attributed to Nattier). With S. J. Phillips Ltd., London, in 1971, acquired by Dr Anton C. R. Dreesmann.
Dr Anton C. R. Dreesmann (1923-2000) Collection, inv. no. F-77; (+) Christie's, London, 11 April 2002, lot 720.

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Lot Essay

One of the sitters of the two miniatures, represented as Diana the Huntress, has traditionally been identified as Louise-Bénédicte de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Charolais, 8th daughter of Henri-Jules, Prince de Condé, who married Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duc du Maine, a legitimized son of King Louis XIV and the Marquise de Montespan, in 1692. The other sitter was identified as her half-sister-in-law Marie-Anne de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Blois, legitimized daughter of King Louis XIV and Mademoiselle de La Vallière, who married Louis-Armand I de Bourbon, Prince de Conti in 1688. It is possible that the latter may be another Princess de Conti, Marie-Thérèse de Bourbon (1666-1732), Mademoiselle de Bourbon, who married in 1688 François-Louis deBourbon, Prince de Conti, and who was the elder sister of Mademoiselle de Blois. The pair of miniatures would thus depict the 5th and 8th child of Henri-Jules, Prince de Condé. In any case, both miniatures are certainly inspired by paintings by Mignard and the resemblance of the Diana the Huntress to the portrait of Charlotte-Isabelle-Elisabeth-Angélique de Montmorency-Boutteville (1626-1695) from the studio of Mignard (Musée de Versailles, inventory no. MV6728) is compelling.

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