Théodore Géricault

Louis-Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, later King Louis-Philippe (1773-1850) (listed in his inventory of the Château de Neuilly , November 1848, folio 38 as "1^er étage, N^o 198 [collectif] Géricault Un Mameluk 26 x 34")
M. Walderfin circa 1867 (and sold, his sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, April 12-16, 1880, lot 123, as Le Mameluk)
Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, December 15, 1883, lot 18 (as Le Mameluk)
Collection Philippon
Antoine Vollon (1833-1900)
Paul Arthur Chéramy (and sold; his sale, Galerie Georges-Petit, Paris, May 5-7, 1908, lot 59 (as Le Mameluck, dit de la galerie d'Orléans)
Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Catalogue des tableaux anciens & modernes, aquarelles, dessins, pastels, œuvre de Boltraffio, [...], Géricault [...]. Importante collection d'œuvres d'Eugène Delacroix [...], estampes anciennes et modernes dépendant de la succession de M. P.-A. Cheramy, vente après décès, April 15-16, lot 386 (as Attributed to Géricault, Le Mameluck, dit de la galerie d'Orléans)
Sale: Sotheby's, London, December 2, 1970, lot 10 (as Mamelouck de la Galerie d'Orléans)
Sale: Christie's, London, June 20, 1986, lot 86, illustrated (as Le Mameluck)
Private Collection
Salander O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1990

Paris, Palais du Champ-de-Mars, Arts au début du siècle, May 1891, no. 381
Paris, Palais de l'Industrie, Exposition d'Art Musulman. Première exposition rétrospective et actuelle de peintres orientalistes français, 1893, no. 153 (lent by Chéramy)
Christiana, Den Franske Ustilling. I Kunstnerforbundet, January-February 1918, no. 32
New York, Salander O'Reilly Galleries, Théodore Géricault (1791-1824); An exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Watercolours, Prints and Sculpture, April 7-May 23, no. 14
Kamakura, Musée d'art Moderne; Kyoto, Musée National d'Art Moderne; Fukuoka, Musée des Beaux Arts, Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), February 2-April 24, 1988, no. p-15 (lent by Salander O'Reilly Galleries)

Jean Vatout, Notices historiques sur les tableaux de la galerie de S.A.R. Mgr. le duc d'Orléans, Paris, vol. IV, 1826, p. 475, no. 178 (as Mameluck)
Charles Clément, "Catalogue de l'oeuvre de Géricault [peintures]," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. XXIII, September 1, 1867, p. 281, no. 60  (as Mameluck de la Galerie d'Orléans)
Charles Clément, Géricault, Étude biographique et critique avec le catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre du maître, Paris, 1868, no. 58 (as Mameluck de la Galerie d'Orléans)
Charles Clément, Géricault. Étude biographique et critique avec le catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre du maître, 3rd edition, Paris, 1879, p. 299, no. 58 (as Mameluck de la Galerie d'Orléans)
Julius Meier-Graefe and E. Klossowski, La collection Chéramy, Munich, 1908, p. 76, no. 97
F.-H. Lem, "Géricault portraitiste," l'Arte, vol. XXVIII, no. 5, January-June 1963, p. 70
Charles Clément, Géricault. Étude biographique et critique avec le catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre du maître, 1879 (1973 edition edited by Lorenz Eitner, with a supplement), Paris, 1973, p. 450, no. 58 
Philippe Grunchec, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Géricault, Paris, 1978, no. 161, illustrated  (as Portrait de Mameluck)
Philippe Grunchec, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Géricault, Paris, 1991 (revised and supplemented from the 1978 edition), pp. 111-2, no. 161, illustrated (as Portrait de Mameluck)
Germain Bazin, Théodore Géricault, étude critique, documents et catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1992, vol. 5, pp. 235-6, no. 1719, illustrated (discussed p. 82, 99, as Le Mameluck de la Galerie d'Orleáns)

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting has been fairly recently restored and could be hung as is however, the varnish is slightly soft and a fresh varnish would be helpful. The canvas has an old lining and the paint layer is stable. There is a fairly significant break in the canvas on the left side of the head in the turban which extends from the left background through the moustache and into the right background. Additionally there is further structural damage which runs from the collar of the man's tunic down into his chest and further his left sleeve. These restorations show faintly under ultraviolet light but have been well executed. In its frame this painting is presentable as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

In 1814 during the fall of Napoleon's Empire, Géricault became interested in Orientalist subjects.  In comparison with the artist's mysterious and melancholic Orientalist compositions inspired by Byron's writings (see lot 82), the present work depicts a proud warrior, a Mamluk (a soldier of slave origins, often with Turkish heritage). By the turn of the eighteenth century Napoleon had formed his own corps of Mamluk soldiers which successfully lead several European campaigns (while others were defeated by him during his Egyptian invasions). The present portrait is comparable to Géricault's two celebrated paintings with the same title, Portrait de Carabinier (Musée de Rouen and Musée du Louvre), and most likely painted toward the end of Napoleon's rule.  Like the present work, these portraits are painted in three-quarter length and avoid the viewer's gaze (all three are without their armor though the present figure retains his dagger).  The three portraits bear a similarly proud spirit easily communicated through Gericault's handling of paint. This particular quality assists in resolving the long debate over the date of the present work.  While Grunchec and Bazin have suggested a range from 1817-1820, it is more likely the work was completed from 1812 to 1816 as Charles Clément first theorized. The later dates have been based on a comparison between the present work and Géricault's Portrait d'Oriental held by the Musée de Basançon (in addition to compositions completed around his travel to Italy 1817 and the period in which studies for the Radeau de la Méduse were completed). However, the present figure possesses a proud, almost regal, countenance in comparison to the melancholic  Portrait d'Oriental.  Moreover, the artist's use of impasto in the white turban and golden dagger of the present work  is characteristic of his work of 1812-1814.  The earlier date range is further supported by comparisons of the present work with his drawing of a Mameluck en pied (Bazin, no. 1720), the "têtes d'orientaux" of  the Géricault  Album held by the Art Institute of Chicago (Bazin, no. 730), and Le cavalier Turc au combat (Bazin no. 865) of l'École national supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris and Les Deux Mamelucks de la garde  (Bazin no. 867), one of who has a large dagger in his sash, held by the Musée des beaux-arts, Rouen.