Jean-Baptiste Isabey

Collection Sainsbury;

Collection Madame E. de Basily-Callimaki, in 1909;

Her sale after death, M^e Lair-Dubreuil, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 12-13 November 1913, lot 20;

Collection David-Weill;

Anonymous sale, Poulain Le Fur, Paris, 9 December 2000, lot 45;

With Benjamin Perronet;

Where acquired by the present owner.

E. Taigny, J.-B. Isabey: sa vie et ses œuvres, Paris 1859, p. 27;

E. de Basily-Callimaki, J.-B. Isabey; sa vie, son temps, 1767-1855, suivi du catalogue de l'œuvre gravée par et d'après Isabey, Paris, 1909, pp. 48 and 290, repr.;

G. Henriot, Collection David-Weill. Les dessins, Paris 1928, tome 3, pp. 273-274, repr.;

Napoleon: An Intimate Portrait. A travelling exhibition from the Russell Etling Company featuring the Collection of Pierre-Jean Chalençon, Catalogue by Pierre-Jean Chalençon, Brett Topping and Russell Hull Etling, Russell Etling Company, 2005-2011, p. 23;

Pomp and Power : French Drawings from Versailles, Wallace Collection, London 2007, pp. 32-33, fig. 1;

Napoléon, l'Empereur sous la verrière du Grand Palais : La collection Pierre-Jean Chalençon, cat. exh. Grand Palais, Paris 2018, p. 23.

This fine wash is a preparatory work for the large drawing commemorating Napoleon’s visit to the velvet manufacturers Sevène Frères on 2 November 1802. In the large weaving hall, the First Consul, surrounded by ministers and departmental government officers, rewards the oldest of the workers for his very long career. On the right, Joséphine, accompanied by her entourage, examines a length of velvet.

Wanting a drawing as a reminder of this event, which showed his interest in the achievements of French industry, Napoleon assigned the task to Jean-Baptiste Isabey. An initial study had to be submitted for the First Consul’s approval. The present very highly developed wash drawing, confidently handled and brilliantly executed, is likely to be this study, which became the model for the final work after being approved by Napoleon. This last, which was also a sepia wash, was exhibited at the 1804 Salon and is now in the Musée National du Château de Versailles (loan from the Musée du Louvre).

Two drawings of the same subject are in the Musée de Rouen, one given in 1856 by Madame Isabey, the other in about 1970 by Madame Simon (a copy, according to the catalogue of the exhibition in 2006–2007, op. cit.). Additionally, a small wash attributed to Isabey, strangely dated 1801, was sold at the Hôtel Drouot on 26 May 2023.

It is interesting to add that in 1806 Isabey produced another wash on a similar theme, Napoleon Visiting the Jouy Manufactory, undoubtedly intended as a pendant to the one showing him at the Sevène Frères manufactory. Both were exhibited at the 1806 Salon and in 1834 entered the collections of the Musée de l’Histoire de France, established by King Louis-Philippe at the Château de Versailles.