catalog text
PAIR OF FRENCH SCHOOL (18TH CENTURY) ANTIQUE OIL COURTING SCENE PAINTINGS
Unsigned; each with placard noting "J. B. LePrince 1733-1781" (Jean-Baptiste LePrince)
Item # 411MWW15Q
This gorgeous pair of French School antique courting scene paintings captures the very essence of the Rococo period, not only in the context of dress and scenery but also in terms of its excessive spirit. Ladies and gentlemen lounge in a plush garden surrounded by classical and mythological sculpture of putti playing, a putto and goat on pedestal and a large study of a nude positioned amongst the trees while a servant pours drinks in one scene and a musician plays for the group in the other. They are precious renderings of inordinate detail, each vibrant and full of life and expression. They retain very early frames, not examined for originality but each with deep and wonderful wear and oxidization throughout the gilded surfaces.
Measurements: [frame] 24 1/4" W x 20 1/2" H; [sight] 17 1/8" W x 13 1/2" H (not removed from frame)
Condition Report:
Both paintings in overall excellent condition. Craquelure to surface of both, the second painting with some light surface scratches/abrasions as pictured. Both frames are extensively chipped. Under UV shows cleaning/varnishing in the last 50 years, this somewhat obscuring possible old restorations; however, it appears to be mostly free of any inpainting, both with only very minor touch ups here and there, perhaps to 5% of total surface on each. Paintings have not been examined out of their frame and backing board has not been removed for examination.