Lot 194: Sébastien Jacques Leclerc, called Leclerc des Gobelins (Paris 1734-1785)

Sébastien Jacques Leclerc, called Leclerc des Gobelins (Paris 1734-1785)
Figures at rest on a wooded summit, with a shepherd presenting a festooned lamb to a shepherdess; and A shepherdess and festooned lamb carried in a rustic palanquin, elegant company observing, in a wooded landscape
the second signed with initials and dated 'L.C. 1751.' (lower right)
oil on canvas
the former 18 x 21¾ in. (45.7 x 55.3 cm.); the latter 18½ x 21 3/8 in. (47 x 54.4 cm.)
a pair (2)

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE AUSTRIAN COLLECTOR (LOT 194)
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
Sold with a copy of a letter from Dr. Alastair Laing, dated 10th March 1991, attributing the paintings to Sébastien-Jacques Leclerc. Laing notes that the artist generally only signed with his initials, and that the present pictures, the latter of which is dated 1751, are precocious examples of the artist's early work. He observes that the scenes 'show two moments of rustic courtship. In the first picture the shepherd suitor is asking the garlanded shepherdess to take his wreathed lamb as a token of his acceptance of suit. In the second, she is borne aloft with the lamb in her bridal bower on the way to their wedding. It is this most pastoral and narrative chracter that distinguishes Leclerc's scenes from the fêtes galantes by Watteau that were the source of both their general inspiration and of some of their individual figures'.
Sébastien-Jacques Leclerc was the third generation of a dynasty of artists; works by his father Sébastien Leclerc the Younger (1676-1763), can be found in the Louvre, Paris, while his grandfather, Sébastien Leclerc the Elder (1637-1714), was the leading engraver of his day.