Jean-Jacques de Boissieu

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Jean-Jacques de Boissieu
1736-1810
Ten Studies of Heads
1797
Pen and black ink and wash, on paper.
8 1/2 x 12 3/4 inches (215 x 326 mm)
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
III, 119c
Inscription: 

Signed and dated at lower left, "J. J. DB. 1797"; on face of old mount, "1975 J. Meyer".
Watermark: Horn with strap inside shield surmounted by crown, over letters "DAH".

Provenance: 
William Mayor (d. 1874), (Lugt 2799); Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), London and Florence; from whom purchased through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, in 1909 by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), New York (no mark; see Lugt 1509); his son, J.P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943), New York.
Summary: 

Another very similar sheet of studies of heads was engraved in reverse by Ignace Joseph de Claussin (1795-1844) in 1817 and it is possible that the present sheet was made in connection with a yet-to-be-identified print.

Watermark: 
Associated names: 

Mayor, William, 1826-1892, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.

Bibliography: 

"Brief Chronological Description of a collection of original drawings and sketches by the old masters of the different schools of Europe: from the revival of art in Italy in the XIIIth to the XIXth century/ formed by the late Mr. William Mayor; the result of upwards of fifty years' experience and research", London 1875, no. 595.

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