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SLADMORE
21
22
Princess Boncompagni née Margaret Draper 1921 17 by 14 in; 43 by 36 cm
Seated Woman c. 1930 15 by 13 in; 40 by 33 cm
This bronze was cast by the lost wax process at the Claude Valsuani foundry, Paris in 1921. It was signed, dated and stamped in the wax: ‘Paul Troubetzkoy’ ‘1921’ ‘CIRE PERDUE C. VALSUANI’. Princess Boncompagni, née Margaret Draper (1891–1974) was the only daughter of William F. Draper and Susan Preston, an unlikely match since Draper had been a Union Army general in the Civil War and Susan Preston was the daughter of a Confederate major-general. Both families occupied prominent positions in society, however, and owned substantial assets. William Draper served as ambassador to Italy for three years from 1897 and when he died in 1910, Margaret inherited half of her father’s multi-million-dollar fortune. The wealthy young heiress became a focus of gossip, dominating the Washington social scene and arousing excited speculation about her engagements and separations. In 1916, she finally married the Roman Prince Andrea Boncompagni, who had been wounded on the front and was unfit to resume service. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1923 and she spent the rest of her life mostly in Paris, New York and Washington.
This bronze was cast by the lost wax process at the Attilio Valsuani foundry, Paris in 1930. It was signed, dated and stamped in the wax: ‘Paul Troubetzkoy’ ‘1930’ ‘CIRE PERDUE A.VALSUANI’. This late work shows the artist in complete command of his sculptural style. It has sometimes been wrongly identified as a later portrait of the celebrated Marchesa Casati whom Troubetzkoy had first modelled standing with her greyhound in 1913. A stylish, near-lifesize painting by Kees van Dongen also portrays her with a greyhound.