French school of the first half of the 19th century, probabl - Lot 63

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Lot n° 63
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2000 - 3000 EUR
Result : NC
French school of the first half of the 19th century, probabl - Lot 63
French school of the first half of the 19th century, probably after Jean-Joseph ESPERCIEUX (1757-1840) Presumed portrait of Senator Guillaume Lazare Lejeans (1738-1803) Plaster bust (Dirt, scratches and chips.) Height Height : 65 cm This plaster bust of a senator in full regalia displays all the characteristics of the neoclassical official portrait under the First Empire. The original model was created as part of the famous commission launched in 1806 to pay tribute to deceased senators, in the same spirit as the portraits of Empire generals commissioned for the Tuileries. This led to the creation of a series of 36 busts at the end of the Empire, whose execution was entrusted to the most prominent sculptors of the period, the regulars of imperial commissions, such as Boizot, Chaudet, Deseine, Delaistre and Bridan. In an article published in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts in 1998, Dominique Jardillier describes the history of this commission in detail, and sets about the difficult task of identifying all the portraits. With the changing regimes and reorganization of the Palais, the busts have been moved many times or relegated to the storerooms, where they have lost their identity. This is the case of the marble version of our bust, illustrated under no. 27 of Jardillier's article, without identification. The list of unidentified portraits preserved in the Senate is, according to the specialist's research, fairly short: the bust of Crassous by Taunay and that of Levavasseur by Bouillet, and that of Papin by Lesueur. However, other busts left the Senate at the time of the Restoration, at the request of the families of deceased senators. Among the latter, no known illustration has yet identified the busts of Lejeans by Espercieux, Morard de Galle by Cartellier or Senator Sers by Bridan. The provenance of our plaster copy allows us to put forward a name for the anonymous bust inventoried 91-01761. It could be the portrait of Senator Guillaume Lazare Le Jeans (1738-1803), from whom the current owners are descended, by Marseille sculptor Jean Joseph Espercieux. The Senate archives indicate that the bust was presented to the deceased's wife on January 9, 1817. As it stands, therefore, we do not know whether our work is indeed the one that was handed over (as a replacement for the marble?), or whether the plaster cast was made after the family's request for the marble to be returned to the Senate, which would have taken place before 1852, when a policy of homogenizing all bust cuts was implemented. Like Lejeans, Jean Joseph Espercieux, a native of Marseille and a pupil of Bridan, was renowned for his portraits, which he exhibited regularly at the Salon between 1793 and 1836. He also took part in major public commissions during the Consulate and Empire (Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, Fontaine de la Paix, Palais Bourbon, Palais du Sénat). Provenance : - Family of Lazare Le Jeans (1784-1840), Marseilles merchant and Empire senator, married to Catherine Clary (affiliated with the Bernadotte and Bonaparte families by marriage), then by descent. Related work : - Anonymous artist, bust of an unknown, marble, Paris, Palais du Sénat, inv. no. 91-01761 (original version of the bust) Related literature: - Dominique Jardillier, "Les bustes de sénateurs du premier Empire au palais du Luxembourg", in Gazette des Beaux Arts, November 1998, tome CXXXII, pp. 213-234. Expert : Cabinet LACROIX-JEANNEST Part I: Thursday June 18, 2026 - Chapter 3: From a Burgundy château, memories of the Viscounts Le Jeans Descendants in the families of Chaumont-Quitry, des Courtils de Merlemont, Dufaure de Lajarte , Eudeline, Fraye, Kabis de Saint-Chamas, de La Fontaine de Fontenay-Le Lièvre de La Grange, de La Poëze d'Harambure, de Lambilly, du Pouget de Nadaillac, de Villeneuve Esclapon, de Villaines, Saint-Olive, de Mollerat du Jeu, du Peyroux, de Lapasse, de Froment, Goupil de Bouillé, de Boissieu, Cotteau de Simencourt, de Tavernost de Saint-Trivier, Boucharlat, Richard de Soultraitait, du Sordet, de Beaumont de Verneuil d'Auty...
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