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63 - French school from the first half of the 19th century, proba…
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Estimate €2,000 - €3,000
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Description
French school from 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 has all the characteristics of the neoclassical official portrait under the First Empire. The original model was produced as part of the famous commission launched in 1806 to pay tribute to deceased senators, in the same spirit as the commission for the portraits of the generals of the Empire for the Tuileries. This led to the creation of a series of 36 busts at the end of the Empire, executed by the most prominent sculptors of the period, who were regulars on imperial commissions, such as Boizot, Chaudet, Deseine, Delaistre and Bridan. In an article published in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts in 1998, Dominique Jardillier gives a detailed account of the history of this commission, and sets about the difficult task of identifying all the portraits. Over the years, as the Palais underwent changes of regime and space reorganisation, the busts were often moved or relegated to storage, where they lost their identity. This is the case of the marble version of our bust, illustrated under no. 27 of Jardillier's article, which has not been identified. 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, when the space was reorganised at the request of the families of deceased senators. Until now, there were no known illustrations to identify 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 suggest a name for the anonymous bust inventoried as 91-01761. It could be the portrait of Senator Guillaume Lazare Le Jeans (1738-1803), from whom the current owners are descended, executed by the Marseille sculptor Jean Joseph Espercieux. The Senate archives indicate that the bust was given to the wife of the deceased on 9 January 1817. As it stands, therefore, we do not know whether our work is indeed the one that was given (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, the date on which a policy of homogenising all the cut-outs of the busts took place. Like Lejeans, Jean Joseph Espercieux came from Marseille and was a pupil of Bridan. He 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), merchant from Marseilles and senator during the Empire, married to Catherine Clary (affiliated with to the Bernadotte and Bonaparte families by marriage), then by descent. Related work : - Anonymous artist, bust of unknown person, 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 18 June 2026 - Chapter 3: From a castle in Burgundy, 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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About the sale COLLECTIONS & CLASSIC WORKS - PART I
Auction location
Auction time 06/18/2026 at 2:00 PM
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