Jean Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) (after) - Lot 36

Jean Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) (after) The Schoolmistress. 1740, engraved by Lépicié. 207x217mm. Bocher 34. Fine proof on laid paper, trimmed on the plate cut but complete with shelf, carefully washed. Small persistent light traces of adhesive at the head on verso. Early inscription "1re Epreuve..." in pen and sepia ink on verso. Ex-coll. J. L. H. Le Secq, dit Des Tournelles (Lugt 1336). The original picture, painted around 1736, appeared at the Louvre in 1740, under the title La Petite maîtresse d'école. It is now in the National Gallery in London. "The spare composition emphasizes the bond between the two children: the boy's sulky attention, and the young mistress's mixture of affection and superiority as she points out the letters of the alphabet with her pin." (BnF, Les Essentiels).