$3,690
Attributed to James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902) Coldstream Drummer Boys , c. 1872 Unsigned, inscribed "J. Tissot" on the stretcher. Oil on canvas, 15 x 20 in. (38.1 x 51.0 cm), framed. Condition: Stable craquelure, minor paint losses at corners and at u.r. edge, stretcher bar marks, surface grime. Provenance: Purchased by the current owner from an estate in Surrey, England, in the early 1980s. N.B. The lot is accompanied by a typed note on letterhead from William Thuillier, Specialist in Old Master Paintings from Private Collections, London, that provides background on Tissot's painting of the Coldstream Drummer Boys. There is little scholarly information on James Tissot after he left London and returned to Paris in 1882. Except for the 1885-6 series of the Women of Paris, he was thought to have focused on religious works. However, in L'Artiste , 1889, reviewer F. Courboin wrote, "M. Tissot a envoyé des aquarelles très serrées et deux jolies études d'après le Fifres de Coldstream Guards." (1) This brief reference indicates that The Coldstream Guards had indeed been a subject for Tissot at some point, and he was exhibiting them in Paris in the late 1880s. It is not clear, however, if the works were done at that period or painted earlier when the artist lived in England. 1. F. Courboin, "Les Expositions: Le Peintres-Graveurs," L'Artiste , 1889, Vol. I, p. 127.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2014-05-16
