137. Italian School, late 18th c., “Set Design for a Prison Interior”, ink wash on paper, unsigned, 8 in. x 12 in., matted. $400/600
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138. An Antique Biscuit Porcelain Portrait Bust of Napoleon, mid19th c., after JeanAntoine Houdon (French, 17411828), cast signature “Houdon” and inscription “Buste Officiel/ Napoleon/Empereur/1805” at back of neck; impressed and underglaze blue “Sevres” marks, cobalt socle on bronze pedestal, height 27 1/4 in. $4000/6000 Provenance: Said to be from a private collection in Versailles, France.
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136. Marco Capinucchi (Italian, known active 1825-1845), “NeoClassical Design for the Ceiling of a Square Room”, 1841, with graphite sketch plan of a theatre en verso, watercolor and gouache on cream wove paper, unsigned, but with the following attestation on the reverse: “Rimini 13 Agosto 1841 / Il retro comparto è lavoro del Sig.r Marco Capinucchi / Professore di Disegno in questo Ginnasio Conele(?) / Il Gonfaloniere / Luigi Pasú [seal];” image area 14 1/2 in. square, on sheet of 16 3/8 in. square. $800/1200 Provenance: James R. Lamantia Jr., New Orleans and New York. Note: A companion to this sheet, another ceiling design by Capinucchi dated 17 January 1826, was published by William R. Cullison III and James Lamantia, An Eye for Architecture, Tulane University Library (Southeastern Architectural Archive), 16 September-31 October 1984, p. 8, no. 7. The painted panels in the published drawing of 1826 depicted the medieval story (popularized by Dante) of Paolo and Francesca da Rimini. Those in the figured tondi on the present sheet of 1841 present two scenes from the mythological deeds of Mars: his encounter with Venus and her husband Vulcan, and the latter’s discovery of the dalliance of Mars and Venus. They surround a small gilt-and-rose-patterned fictive dome, and are interspersed with gilt roundels bearing trophies of arms; in the remaining spaces are compartments of green and rose tinted foliate ornament with fantastical creatures and musical instruments.
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Note: Although Houdon had consolidated his enormous reputation before the French Revolution with busts of the royal family as well as French (and American) sitters of wealth and prominence, his skill was so preeminent that he remained in favor during all the upheavals of the Terror, the Consulate, the Empire, and the Restauration. The present bust is an illustration of the esteem in which he was held by Napoleon: Houdon did in fact execute an “official” portrait of the Emperor, whose terracotta original, signed and dated 1806, is in the Musée de Beaux-Arts at Dijon. The much-later inscription on this biscuit copy is thus incorrect in its dating by one year—a minor mistake which was in fact quite frequent in such long-delayed inscriptions (this one dates from the time this bust copy was made, doubtless during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III in the 1850s or 60s). The characterization here is unusually forceful, representing le grand Empereur as a paragon of strength and vitality, even as the slight diminution of size (the so-called “petite nature”) makes this portrait especially appealing to today’s smaller interiors. Reference: Guilhem Scherf, “Houdon,” Grove Dictionary of Art, Jane Turner, ed., London, 1996, 34 vols., vol. 14, pp. 796-799.
139. A French Bronze Bust of “Jean de Torrou”, 19th c., after the 1783 marble by Jean-Jacques Caffierie (French, 1725-1792), inscribed “Jean de Torrou né a Dreux en 1609 mort dans la même village 1650, fait par J. Caffieri 1783”, height 37 in. $3000/5000