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Jean-Mathieu PEKLE (1868-1956)
Portrait of Pepita Pietri, wi…
See original version (French)
130
-
Jean-Mathieu PEKLE (1868-1956)
Portrait of Pepita Pietri, wi…
See original version (French)
Estimate €10,000 - €15,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Jean-Mathieu PEKLE (1868-1956)
Portrait of Pepita Pietri, wife Marcantetti (1868-1903).
Bust in plaster.
Signed and dated 1903 on the base.
H. 60.5 cm.
Stains, cracks on the base, minor damage to the back of the base.
Provenance: Château de Canari (Cap Corse), Marcantetti family.
The Château de Canari was the former residence of the Cenci family. The full title of the Cenci de Canari was "Barons of Canari, Nonza and Ogliastro" from 1556. The Cenci family thus controlled three baronies.
The last representative of the family to own Canari Castle was Maria Vittoria Cenci, Marquise d'Albon, who was living in Rome at the time with her French husband. She sold the castle to the Mattei family, who in turn sold the barony in 1880 to Toussaint Marcantetti, a pharmacist from Bastia and mayor of Canari. His three children were born at the château.
This plaster bust depicts Josefina Pepita Marcantetti, née Pietri, a member of a prominent Corsican family who settled in Puerto Rico in the XIXᵉ century. It is thus a moving testimony to the historical links uniting Corsica and Puerto Rico through the great Corsican families who expatriated to the Americas in order to make their fortunes.
Josefina Pietri was born in Yauco, Puerto Rico, in 1868. She was the eldest daughter of Don José Pietri Moretti, a native of Olmeta-di-Capocorso, more precisely of the hamlet of Celle, and considered one of the most important Corsican planters in Puerto Rico. He settled in Yauco in 1858 and ran the La Salvación and Santa Teresa haciendas.
His mother, Doña Teresa Pietri Ramos, was the offspring of a marriage between first cousins and descended on her mother's side from the ancient native caciques of the island of Puerto Rico. Widowed and retired to Bastia, in her private mansion in the rue Sant'Angelo, she outlived her daughter and died in 1909.
Pepita married Toussaint Marcantetti, a pharmacist in Bastia and owner of Château Cenci in Canari. The couple had three children. Josefina "Pepita" Marcantetti died prematurely in 1903. After his wife's death, her husband Toussaint Marcantetti commissioned two portraits of her, dated 1903, from two leading portraitists in Corsica and particularly in the Bastia region. The first, in pastel, was painted by Ettore Penso, an Italian painter who received many commissions from prominent people in Bastia. The second is by Jean-Mathieu Pekle.
Jean-Mathieu Pekle was one of the great Corsican sculptors of the first half of the 20th century. A sought-after portraitist, he produced numerous busts and medallions representing local personalities and island figures. He also created several decorative elements for the Corsican Pavilion at the 1937 International Exhibition. Finally, he was responsible for the bas-reliefs on the war memorial in Place Saint-Nicolas in Bastia, in particular the famous "voceru" scene, which has become emblematic of his work.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Lot description modified on 05/28/2026 at 5:49 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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