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(After) Jean-Antoine Watteau
Les Plaisirs du Bal [before 1st State] (The Pleasures of the Ball)

1730

About the Item

Les Plaisirs du Bal (before 1st State), 1730 The Pleasures of the Ball Pure etching only by Gérard Jean-Baptiste Scotin II (born Paris 1698) 495 x 640 mm.; 19 3/8 x 25 1/8 inches Reference: Dacier & Vuaflart 114 (before 1st State) Notes: A very fine, extremely rare, undescribed impression of this grandious work, before Dacier & Vuaflart’s 1st State (of two states). It has 15 mm. margins on three sides and 32 mm. margin below. This magnificent, pure etching is before all letters. Dacier & Vuaflart’s 1st State is described as being “with letters” and with “le privilege du roi”, but before the address of the publisher, the Widow Chereau. Dacier & Vuaflart’s 2nd State has the publisher’s address added. Les Plaisirs du Bal, also called Chori Deliciae, is one of the eight large plates (including l’Enseigne) found at the end of Watteau’s L’Oeuvre Gravé. In its finished 2nd State, this work was offered twice by the Widow of Chereau: first in the Mercure of Nov., 1730 (p. 2465) and then in April, 1731 (p. 747). This composition is etched and engraved after one of Watteau’s most famous paintings. The etching-engraving is the same size as the painting. There is a question as to whether Scotin executed his print directly from the original painting or from a copy of that painting. There also is a depiction of this same scene executed by Jean-Baptiste Pater (1695-1736) (see: P.Alfassa L’Enseigne de Gersaint, Paris, 1910). In fact, the Montulle and Le Brun catalogues indicate that Pater did two or three copies of Watteau’s painting. In addition, Dacier & Vuaflart note that Watteau himself apparently had executed a replica of his own painting for Francois II de Boyer of Bandol, then President of the Provence Parlement (see: Notes Critiques sur les vies anciennes d’Ant.Watteau by P. Champion, Paris, 1921, p. 102, note 3).
  • Creator:
    (After) Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684 - 1721, French)
  • Creation Year:
    1730
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 19.38 in (49.23 cm)Width: 25.18 in (63.96 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Chicago, IL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU36532710383

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