Louis Jean Desprez

Etching, circa 1777–84, the fifth (final) state, a good impression of this rare subject (although showing slight areas of wear, mainly in the foreground and in the upper left corner), on paper with an Auvergne watermark dated 176(6?) and Bunch of Grapes

Paul Prouté (by repute); private collection, Sweden, probably acquired from the above in the 1920's, thence by descent to the present owner

V. Carlson & J. Ittmann, Regency to Empire: French Printmaking 1715-1814, The Baltimore Museum of Fine Art & Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1984, no. 80 (an impression of an intermediate state illustrated)

P. Stein, Artists and Amateurs: Etching in Eighteenth-century France, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2013, no. 52 (a second or third state illustrated)

With small margins on three sides (trimmed slightly unevenly at right), trimmed to or just outside the platemark at top, in good condition apart from repaired tears at the centre of the side sheet edges (extending approx. 1.5cm into the subject at right and approx. 0.5cm into the subject at left), a small slit in the platemark at lower right, a horizontal central crease and two vertical creases at right (mainly visible verso), a couple of small nicks at the left sheet edge, very pale scattered fox marks (mainly outside the subject), previous hinging tape remains at intervals along the upper sheet edge verso, unframed.
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According to our records, the fifth state of this rare etching has not been offered at auction in at least thirty years. Only this final state comprises the following inscription describing the subject, as translated by Victor Carlson:

“The beast, born in the burning sands of Africa, lived in the ruined palace once belonging to Masinissa (ca. 240-148 B.C.), the former ruler of Numidia, a retreat which the chimera left only to devour animals and unwary travelers. Neither land nor sea could contain the monster, who moved ceaselessly over both in his unending hunt. Here, a blazing sun and an arch describe the chimera’s African habitat; the ground is crawling with reptiles and strewn with the remains of victims.”

The Louvre Museum dedicated an exhibition entitled La Chimère de Monsieur Desprez to this important and rare subject in 1994.