J. h. B. D. J. T. C. D. R. P. M. D. P.
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A frowning man with a protruding lower lip and a green-tinged complexion walks from the left to the right. He looks down at an open musical score held in his left hand. The index finger of his right hand is extended and points towards the score.
The man wears a black wig with high peaks. It is gathered at the back. He is dressed in a red collarless coat with deep cuffs. Black lace shirt cuffs protrude from his coat sleeves. Covering his large belly is a grey waistcoat with yellow trimmings. He wears a pair of blue breeches, white stockings and oversized black shoes with short heels, square toes and buckles. A sword hangs at his left side, its blade visible behind him. Three mice sit on its blade.
Curatorial commentary
- It has not proved possible to identify this figure from the initials provided. The musical score and the impish mice recall the drawing at 675.239, where the target is Rameau. However, so far the initials offer no clue to a more precise identity.
Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)
187 x 132
Inscriptions
J. h. B. D. J. T. C. D. R. P. M. D. P.
Inscription
Inscribed by Charles-Germain de Saint-Aubin, below image, in ink
84.
Pagination
Top left corner, in ink; first digit truncated by page's edge
284
Pagination
Top left, in ink
Underdrawing
Underdrawing, centre of page, in graphite; a figurative scene; details indecipherable.
Language
French
Part of
- Livre de Caricatures tant bonnes que mauvaises. 675.1-389
Collection
- Waddesdon (National Trust)
- Bequest of James de Rothschild, 1957
Bibliography
- James H. Johnson; Musical culture; Colin Jones, Juliet Carey, Emily Richardson, The Saint-Aubin Livre de caricatures: drawing satire in eighteenth-century Paris, Oxford, SVEC, 2012; 215-232; pp. 230, 232, fig. 9.10