Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

(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
More From This SellerView All
  • The Hunchbacked Fiddler (3rd State)
    By Adriaen van Ostade
    Located in Chicago, IL
    The Hunchbacked Fiddler (3rd State), 1654 Etching 266 x 113 mm.; 6 1/2 x 4 7/16 inches Watermark: Fleur-de-lys in a Crowned Shield References: Godefroy 44 III/VI Hollstein 44 III/VI Pelletier, Adrian van Ostade...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Etching

  • The Large Village Fair
    By Cornelis Dusart
    Located in Chicago, IL
    The Large Village Fair, 1685 Etching 268 x 377 mm.; 10 1/2 x 13 1/4 inches Watermark: Arms of Amsterdam Provenance: H. Freiherr von und zu Aufsess (Lugt 2749) M. Menge (Lugt 1893a). References: Hollstein 16 Notes: A fine, early impression (before spots on the sky) of one of Dusart’s most powerful and fanciful works. Concerning the provenances of this etching: Hans von und zu Aufsess (1801-1872) was a great book lover and also a major collector of Old Master prints. He was one of the founders, in 1852, of the Germanisches Museum in Nürnberg and was that museum’s director until 1862. Mas Menge (died in 1945) was a famous violinist and also a major collector of Old Master prints and drawings.
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Etching

  • Bearded Man with Shadowed Face, Wearing a Scarf and a Plumed Hat, (3rd state)
    By Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione
    Located in Chicago, IL
    Bearded Man with Shadowed Face, Wearing a Scarf and a Plumed Hat, (3rd state), 1645-50 Etching on laid paper 152 x 184 mm.; 6 x 7 1/4 inches References: Bellini 45 Bartsch 52 Note...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Laid Paper, Etching

  • The Singers
    By Adriaen van Ostade
    Located in Chicago, IL
    The Singers (4th State), 1667 Etching printed with tone 240 x 190 mm.; 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches Provenance: W. Benoni White (Lugt 2592) Karl Herweg (not in Lugt) References: Godefroy 19 IV/VII Hollstein 19 IV/VII Pelletier, Georgia Museum of Art, 1994: nos. 46 and 47 Notes: A very fine impression of the rare 4th state (of seven) of this major Van Ostade. Godefroy illustrates differences between this 4th state and the following 5th state. In the latter state, there are several “escaped lines”, going obliquely from left to right, directly above the central post. These lines are not visible in the 4th state. Ostade was one of the most important of the printmakers within the Rembrandt circle. His prints, avoiding religious subjects, depicted beggars, peasants and artisans. Combining great artistic sensitivity with thorough mastery of the medium of etching, Ostade etchings present a unique artistic panorama of life in seventeenth-century Holland. Pelletier (S. William Pelletier, Adrian Van Ostade...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Etching

  • Bellos Consejos (Wonderful Advice)
    By Francisco Goya
    Located in Chicago, IL
    An impression from the 1st edition published in 1799, the only edition published during Goya's lifetime. References: Los Caprichos Plate 15; Delteil 52; Harris 50 III.1 Prado ...
    Category

    18th Century and Earlier Old Masters Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Etching, Aquatint

  • Venus and the Rose (2nd State)
    By Giorgio Mantovano Ghisi
    Located in Chicago, IL
    Engraving after Luca Penni
    Category

    16th Century Old Masters Prints and Multiples

    Materials

    Engraving

You May Also Like
  • Ruins of the Roman Baths of Belisarius: A 19th C. Etching by Luigi Rossini
    By Luigi Rossini
    Located in Alamo, CA
    This early 19th century etching entitled "Veduta degl' Avanzi delle Torri di Belisario Dalla parte che guarda l' Interno della Città, vicino a Porta S. Giovanni, A. Mura Aureliane" (...
    Category

    1820s Old Masters Landscape Prints

    Materials

    Etching

  • Church of St. Costanza, Rome: An 18th Century Piranesi Architectural Etching
    By Giovanni Battista Piranesi
    Located in Alamo, CA
    This is a framed 18th century Giovanni Battista Piranesi etching entitled: "Veduta interna del Sepocro di Santa Costanza, fabbricat...
    Category

    1770s Old Masters Interior Prints

    Materials

    Etching

  • Crucifixion: 18th Century Etching by Conrad Metz after Daniele da Volterra
    Located in Alamo, CA
    "Crucifixion" is an etching and aquatint, printed in brown ink by Conrad M. Metz after a painting by Daniele da Volterra. It was published in London in 1789 in 'Imitations Of Ancient...
    Category

    Late 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Etching, Aquatint

  • Fabricius (Ponte Cestio) Bridge : Framed 18th C. Piranesi Architectural Etching
    By Giovanni Battista Piranesi
    Located in Alamo, CA
    This framed 18th century etching by Giovanni Battista Piranesi is entitled "Dimostransi nella Tav. presente la Pianta, ed Elevazione del Ponte, oggi detto Quattro Capi egli è antichissimo, e chiamavasi Fabrizio da L. Fabrizio Presid. delle Strade, che lo fabbrico' nel fine della Repubblica. "(The Plan and Elevation of the Bridge, today called Quattro Capi. The architect is very ancient, and was called Fabrizio da L. Fabrizio Presid. delle Strade, who built it at the end of the Republic). This is plate 18 in volume 4 of Piranesi's "Le antichita romane opera di Giambatista Piranesi architetto veneziano" (Roman antiquities by Giambatista Piranesi Venetian architect). It was published in Rome in 1756-1757. This etching depicts the plan and elevation of the bridge now called the Ponte dei Quattoro Capi or Ponte Cestio (Bridge of the Four Heads), which in antiquity was called the Bridge of Fabricius after L. Fabricius, the Superintendant of the Streets who built it at the end of the Republic, around 62 BC. It was also been known in the Middle Ages as ‘Ponte Giudeo’ (Bridge of the Jews). The bridge crossed from the left bank or northeast side of the Tiber River to Tiber Island...
    Category

    1750s Old Masters Landscape Prints

    Materials

    Etching

  • 19th Century Etching of the Ancient Caracalla Baths in Rome by Luigi Rossini
    By Luigi Rossini
    Located in Alamo, CA
    This early 19th century etching entitled "Veduta dei Grandi Avanzi delle Terme Antoniane, o di Caracalla" (The baths of Caracalla) was created by Luigi Rossini and included in his pu...
    Category

    1820s Old Masters Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Etching

  • 18th C. Piranesi Fireplace Designs based on Ancient Architectural Styles
    By Giovanni Battista Piranesi
    Located in Alamo, CA
    These two Giovanni Battista Piranesi 18th century etchings of fireplace designs on one sheet is plate 6 from his publication 'Diverse Maniere d'adornare i cammini ed ogni altra parte degli edifizi desunte dall'architettura Egizia, Etrusca, e Greca con un Ragionamento Apologetico in defesa dell'Architettura Egizia, e Toscana, opera del Cavaliere Giambattista Piranesi...
    Category

    Mid-18th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Etching

Recently Viewed

View All