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a picture of a picture of a man and a woman in a picture frameportrait of a woman in a blue dress in a gold frameportrait of a man in a red coat in a gold framea wooden box with a plaque on it on a tablean ornate wooden frame with a picture of a ship on ita picture of a picture of an envelope on a wooden frame
Senequier-Crozet (Anciennement Sadde Grenoble)

71 - French school of the second half of the 18th century.
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Estimate €1,000 - €1,500
Sale commission
Description
French school of the second half of the 18th century. Portraits of Count Joseph Hyacinthe François de Rigaud de Vaudreuil (1740–1817), shown as a young man in a gendarme’s uniform, and of his sister Marie Joséphine de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, Countess of Duras (1743–1781), depicted in half-length portraits as a pair. Two oval ivory miniatures: H: 4 cm and 4 cm, set together in a 19th-century carved wooden frame featuring foliage, ears of corn, bunches of grapes and vine leaves, surmounted by a medallion bearing the combined coats of arms, adorned at the bottom with a painted cartouche: ‘C. de RIGAUD de Vaudreuil/ Knight of the King’s Orders, & &/ and his sister/ the Countess de DURAS, née de Beurnonville/ 1759’. Frame H: 21 cm. Weight: 270 g. The date 1759 refers to the year in which Vaudreuil joined the army as standard-bearer for the Gendarmes du Berry. Here he is wearing the red uniform with silver braiding of the Gendarmes, in accordance with the style in use during and shortly after the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), when he served as adjutant to Marshal de Soubise. In 1764, he was appointed second lieutenant in the Scottish Gendarmes; in 1770, brigadier in the Dauphin-Dragons regiment; and in 1780, colonel, governor of the citadel of Lille, and Grand Falconer of France. He is not yet wearing the insignia of a Knight of the King’s Orders nor the blue cord of the Order of the Holy Spirit, which he received in 1784. This previously unpublished portrait from his youth shows him at the start of his military career, which was as brilliant as his social successes. Close to the Count of Artois and the Polignac clan, he was regarded as the most charming man at Court: ‘Tall, well-built and elegant, he had a charming face, features as expressive as his thoughts, an affable smile, a noble bearing and the most attractive manners. His chivalrous character, his frankness, his loyalty, his generosity, his integrity—which, as Besenval said, extended to ‘a sort of ferocity’— ’ which earned him esteem and admiration […], qualities marred by outbursts he was powerless to suppress.” Having emigrated in 1789, he was appointed governor of the Louvre Museum during the Restoration and made a Peer of France. The coats of arms at the top of the frame are: on the right, those of Rigaud de Vaudreuil, ‘argent, a lion gules crowned or’; on the left, those (an earlier variant) of the Duras family, ‘quartilled, gules, a lion argent ’ (here in gold), ‘argent, a band azure’.” Marie-Joséphine de Rigaud de Vaudreuil married Charles Armand Fidèle de Durfort, Count of Duras (1743–1804), in 1767 and died on 23 November 1781, leaving behind a single daughter, Fidèle-Joséphine-Maclovie de Durfort de Duras (1780–1865). Her portrait appears to be copied from a detail of a miniature signed by Mathies circa 1781 (Tansey Collection, Celle, Germany, inv. 10500), in which she is depicted with her daughter and the child’s grandmother. She does not appear to have been a Princess of Beurnonville/Bournonville. Our sincere thanks to Mr Jean-Louis Vial for identifying the uniform. Expert: N. Lemoine-Bouchard. A CITES certificate will be issued to the purchaser, permitting movement solely within the European Union.
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About the sale Miniatures – Regional curiosities
Auction location
Auction time 09/23/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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