Although this drawing entered the Morgan Library & Museum with an attribution to eighteenth-century artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard, the flat, unmodulated use of chalk, and the hollow, indiscrimate faces of the figures are atypical of Fragonard's style (Alexandre Ananoff, Oeuvre Dessiné de Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806), catalogue raisonné. 4 vols. Paris, 1961-1970). While almost certainly not by Fragonard, the drawing may have been executed by someone in his circle around the middle of the eighteenth century.
Formerly attributed to Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Grasse 1732-Paris 1806
Watermark: Fleur-de-lis above shield with bend, letters "VDL" below shield (Strasbourg bend).
Fragonard, Jean-Honoré, 1732-1806, Formerly attributed to.
McCrindle, Joseph F., former owner.