Jean Antoine Watteau

Daniel Saint (1778-1847);
his sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 4-7 May 1846, lot 197;
Norblin's father, according to the 1863 sale catalogue;
possibly the Norblin sale, Paris, 5 February 1855, part of lots 255 or 256;
possibly sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 1-2 March 1858, part of lot 93;
sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 30 January 1863, lot 62 (for 14 francs);
Maurice Delestre sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 14 May 1936, lot 160 (as Attributed to Watteau);
Mme G. Catroux, Paris, 1957, according to Parker and Mathey;
sale, London, Christie's, 12 April 1983, lot 126, reproduced (as Watteau);
Private Collection, Chicago

K.T. Parker and J. Mathey, Antoine Watteau, catalogue complet de son oeuvre dessiné, Paris 1957, no. 277, reproduced;
P. Rosenberg and L.-A. Prat, Antoine Watteau 1684-1721, Catalogue raisonné des dessins, Milan 1996, vol. 1, pp. 388-9, cat. no. 243, reproduced;
M. Eidelberg, 'An Album of Drawings from Rubens' Studio', in Master Drawings, vol. 35, 1997, no. 3, pp. 238, 246, reproduced p. 258, fig. 45

Unframed. There is the remains of a vertical crease at the centre of the sheet. There are traces of foxing which have been very carefully lightened. The chalk remains in excellent condition - very strong and fresh.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This striking head relates to the satyr at the right of Rubens' Drunkeness of Hercules in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden.  The sheet is part of a group of drawings by Watteau which Martin Eidelberg has convincingly argued were copied not from the original paintings, but from an album containing ninety-four character heads executed by the Rubens workshop.¹  As the Drunkeness of Hercules was in Düsseldorf in the 18th Century and Watteau is known only to have left his native Valenciennes for Paris and London, the theory is compelling.

The album is thought to have been composed by Rubens to provide models from which his pupils could study.  Many of the heads can be traced to oil modelli by the master or, as in this case, his paintings.  The album was purchased from Rubens' nephew by Roger de Piles (1635-1709) and subsequently passed to Pierre Crozat (1665-1740).²  Eidelberg proposes that it was whilst the album was in Crozat's possession that Watteau made the copies, alongside his close friend Nicolas Vleughels.³  The exact dating of the present sheet is debated, with Eidelberg using 1715, when Watteau and Vleughels were living with Crozat in Paris, as a terminus post quem.  Rosenberg and Prat give a slightly earlier date, of circa 1714.    

As with the majority of sheets from the album, the studio drawing from which Watteau copied the present sheet has not been traced.  However, it is recorded in an engraving by Louis-Marin Bonnet (1736-1793) and in a counter-proof of another copy by an unknown hand in the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.⁴

1. M. Eidelberg, op. cit., pp. 234-5
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid, p. 244
4. P. Rosenberg and L.-A. Prat, loc. cit., figs. 243a and 243b; Mathias Polakovits collection, inv. no. 49