| | | | | | | | Document | Sale Catalog F-A1064 | |
| Sale Location | sur les lieux, en sa maison, rue du Plâtre Saint-Jacques, Paris, France | | Seller(s) | Bonnet, Louis-Marin
from catalog: Feu le Citoyen Bonnet, Graveur | | Expert | Regnault-Delalande, François-Léandre | | Commissaire-Priseur | Blondel, Pierre-Michel-Louis | | Commissaire-Priseur | Mérault, Jean-Baptiste | | Lugt Number | 5118 | | No. of Painting Lots | 58 | | Notes | The title page of the catalogue states that the sale was to begin on 17 Brumaire an 2 (November 7, 1793) but its duration is not known. The number of lots was relatively small: 11 with paintings, 48 with drawings or gouaches, 66 with prints and a final lot with engraving tools and miscellaneous objects. However, many of the lots consisted of large numbers of items that were to be sub-divided at the time of the sale. Lot 56, for example, contained 480 drawings, and lots 57 and 58 each contained more than 100 drawings, all of which were eventually sold in smaller groups, but since neither of the two copies of the catalogue originally belonging to the expert who organized the sale, F.L. Regnault (AAP and ESP) is annotated, it is impossible to know exactly how extensive the sub-dividing was and how long the sale may have lasted.
The owner is given as "Bonnet, Graveur," who was Louis-Marin Bonnet, born in Paris in 1736 and died in the same city on October 12, 1793, just 16 days before the present sale. He had considerable success as an engraver and draftsman, and for a time was employed in Saint Petersburg by Catherine the Great. The contents of the sale, which were no doubt the contents of his studio at the time of his death, did include a few paintings, mostly by contemporary artists but apparently of modest value since many were grouped together in collective lots. Lot no.11, for instance, consisted of 18 paintings, both large and small, including studies of various kinds. No artist's name is attached to these lots, but a few may have been studies by Bonnet himself.
The most notable segment of the sale (lots 23-45a) consisted of drawings by Jean-Baptiste Huet, which seem to have been finished compositions, and therefore probably to be engraved by Bonnet. However, the bulk of the remaining drawings were sketches and studies by Bonnet's contemporaries, and their number and description both suggest that they were meant to be used for other purposes. No results for the sale are recorded, and only one of the lots has been traced: lot no.3, a pair of small interior scenes on copper by Jollain, is now in the Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris. Judging from their place in the catalogue and the fact that they were sold by themselves, they were probably among the most desirable lots in the sale. (B. Fredericksen) | | Catalog Location(s) | AAP [photocopy in Provenance Index Sales Files] Expert's copy, but not annot.
ESP Expert's copy, but not annot.
BNP Not annot. It is addressed to the dealer J.B.P. Lebrun.
LP Not annot.
ARP Not annot.
FLNY Not annot. Formerly HP. | | See Also | Sale Contents | | | Art Sales Catalogues Online | | | Digitized Catalog - INHA | | | Digitized Catalog - Frick | | | |
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