François Boucher

Albert Cavé;
Gaston Le Roy, his sale, Paris, 19-20 May 1926, lot 79 (''Beau dessin'');
Charles Férault (L.2793a);
Sale, Paris, 6 December 1965, lot 4 (as Attributed to);
Geneviève Aymonier, Paris

Paris, Geneviève Aymonier-Férault, Exposition de Dessins Anciens, 1966, cat. no. 14, reproduced ('Dessin de la plus grande qualité du Maître').

A. Ananoff, L'oeuvre dessiné de François Boucher, Paris 1966, p. 174, no. 647, fig. 112, reproduced;
P. Jean-Richard, L'oeuvre gravé de François Boucher dans la collection Edmond de Rothschild, Paris 1978, p. 288, under no. 1177

Unframed. Laid down on card. Some very light foxing visible in the upper center. Two tiny holes at the center of the right edge and possibly another at the lower left, near Joseph's foot. There is a little rubbing and surface dirt at the upper right corner, but otherwise the condition is fine.
"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 charming composition was clearly much loved by Boucher, as two further autograph versions are known, one in the same medium as the present sheet, in the National Gallery of Melbourne and another in black chalk heightened with white in the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, inv. no. F.I.35.¹ The composition was engraved by Huquier in 1756² and a copy by Jean-Baptiste Huët, signed and dated 1779, was recently on the art market.³

Another drawing by Boucher from the same year is highly comparable in technique to the present sheet.  His Allegory of the Education of Louis XV, in a private collection, uses the same rich combination of higly worked pen and brown ink and wash, with light and shade worked out using areas of wash and rapid hatching.⁴

1. See Ananoff, op. cit.,1966, nos. 645-6, fig. 111
2. See P. Jean-Richard, op.cit., p. 1175, cat. no. 1177  
3. Sold in Cannes, 11 December 2004
4. See A. Laing, The Drawings of François Boucher, exhib. cat., New York 2003, pp. 198-199, cat. no. 76