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Les Habits sont italiens (copy 1)
Entered October 2023; revised April 2024

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on panel

23.5 x 18.4 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Une Mascarade

Masquerade Figures

A Masquerade Scene

La Troupe italienne

 

PROVENANCE

Norfolk, collection of Sir Andrew Fountaine (1678-1753). His sale (and others), London, July 7, 1894, lot 37: “WATTEAU . . . . A MASQUERADE SCENE: a group of five small three-quarter length figures in masquerade dress, one holding a guitar, a red curtain to the right / 9¾ in /  by 7¼  in. Engraved / From Sir Andrew Fountain’s Collection / Exhibited at Burlington House, 1880.” Sold for £420 to Lesser. 

London, collection of Sir Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D’Abernon (1857-1941).

London, with Julius David Ichenhauser (1858-1920; banker and dealer). His sale, London, December 3, 1910, lot 173: “WATTEAU . . . MASQUERADE FIGURES / 38 ½  in. by 32 ½ in. Exhibited at the Guildhall, 1902.” Sold for £34.16 to (?)Brook.

London, with Charles Sedelmeyer (1837-1925; dealer).

London, Buttery collection.

Paris, Edith (b. 1896) and Ludolf (b. 1886; banker) Rosenheim collection.

 

EXHIBITIONS

London, Royal Academy (1880), cat. 75 (as by Watteau, A Masquerade, lent by A. C. Fountaine).

London, Guildhall, Exhibition of a Selection of Works by French and English Painters of the Eighteenth Century (1902) cat. 145 (as by Watteau, A Masquerade, lent by Sir Edgar Vincent).
                                                                                                                           
Paris, Musée Carnavalet, Le Théâtre à Paris (1929), cat. 79 (as by Watteau, Les Habits sont italiennes, lent by Mme. Rosenheim).

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

London, Sedelmeyer Gallery (1905), cat. 73 (as by Watteau, La Troupe Italienne).

Zimmermann, Watteau (1912), 176, pl. 24.

Dacier, Vuaflart, and Hérold, Jean de Jullienne et les graveurs (1921-29), under cat. 130.

Ferré, Watteau (1972), under cat. B 17.

 

REMARKS

Although this version of Les Habits sont italiens has not been seen publicly for the last century, it continues to be favored by some critics even though they have not seen the work firsthand. In the second half of the nineteenth century when the Waddesdon Manor picture was essentially unknown, hidden from public view within the Rothschild collection, the Rosenheim version, by contrast, was frequently exhibited and appeared at auction. It was only natural that it gained recognition. It was accepted by Edmond de Goncourt, Portalis and Beraldi, Zimmerman, Dacier, Vuaflart and Hérold, Réau, and Adhémar. Even though it was last seen in 1929, it has retained a place of honor, notwithstanding Levy’s 1959 publication which convincingly transferred primacy to the Waddesdon version. Macchia and Montagni continued to accept the Rosenheim version, Posner denied that either was original. Sidestepping the issue, Brookner, Roland Michel, Temperini, and Glorieux list the composition but do not give a nod to either version.

 

 

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 2)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Medium unknown

Measurements unknown

 

PROVENANCE

France, collection of Dr. Rattel.

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adhémar, Watteau (1950), under cat. 155.

REMARKS

It was said that a Dr. Rattel owned a copy of Les Habits sont italiens. In repeating this second-hand story without offering a more specific name or place, Adhémar does not allow us to pursue the matter further. If Rattel’s picture was truly a copy after Les Habits sont italiens, it might be one of the many copies circulating in France in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. But there is no way of corroborating this.

 

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 3)
Entered Septeremb 2023

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on panel

23.5 x 18 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Elegant Couple Dancing

 

PROVENANCE

London, Sotheby’s. May 28, 1998, lot 239: “After Antoine Watteau / ELEGANT COUPLE DANCING; MUSICIAN PLAYING TO A COMPANY / a pair, both oil on panel (2) / each: 23.5 by 19 cm.; 9¼ by 7½  in.  These 19th Century works relate to compositions by Antoine Watteau: Les Habits sont Italiens, Staatiche Museum, Berlin (Inv. no. KdZ 26480); Sous un habit de Mezetin, the Wallace Collection, London (inv. no. P381) / £1,200-1,800.” Sold for £1,610 the pair.

 

REMARKS

The copyist lacked talent, but he compensated for this in remodeling the actors’ costumes. The varied patterns of the principal actress’ garments and her elaborately plumed hat reveal his distinctive, creative imagination.

 

This copy of Les Habits sont italiens was paired with a copy after Watteau’s Sous un habit de Mezetin. Both are after the engravings in the Jullienne Oeuvre gravé and, in fact, the two compositions were paired in the Jullienne corpus. Another copy after Les Habits sont italiens (copy 16) is similarly paired with Sous un habit de Mezetin.

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 4)
Entered September 2023

 

Cologne, Universität, Theaterwissenschaffliche Sammlung, inv, 15379

Oil on canvas

63 x 59 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Französische Komödianten

 

REMARKS

This is a crude copy of Watteau’s composition. The figures have been compressed into a tighter grouping, and the background trees were eliminated. The available photograph suggests that there is an excess of black pigment.

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 5)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

117 x 82.5 cm

 

PROVENANCE

Vienna, Galerie Becharczyk.

Austria, private collection.

Vienna, sale, Dorotheum, December 11, 2018, lot 353: “Pierre Antoine Quillard / A Commedia dell’Arte scene with Columbine, Harlequin and Pierrot / oil on canvas, 117 x 82.5 cm, framed / Provenance: with Galerie Becharczyk, Vienna;  Estimate EUR 6,000.-to EUR 8,000 - / USD 6,400.- to USD 8,600.-“ Sold for €7,500.

 

REMARKS

The attribution to Pierre Antoine Quillard, Watteau’s student and follower, is without any basis. The anonymous copyist, who seems not to have been French, took many liberties with Watteau’s composition, such as extending the figures to full length and turning the principal actress’s white gown into a colorful peasant-like costume with a laced bodice. This copy is a very large version of Watteau’s painting.

         

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 6)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

35 x 29.8 cm

           
ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Masquerade

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, with art dealers Georges Édouard Warneck (1834-1924) and Caroline Febvre Warneck. Sold in 1890 to Henry and Louisine Havemeyer via Durand Ruel for 25,000 francs.

New York, collection of Henry Osborne Havemeyer (1855-1929; sugar refiner) and Louisine Havemeyer (1855-1929). Her sale, New York, Anderson Gallery, October 4, 1930, lot 57:  “FRENCH SCHOOL XVIII Century . . . MASQUERADE / Grouped before  a background of verdure with a glimpse of a pale sky, and draped with  a crimson hanging at right, are Harlequin, Columbine and the clown Gilles; at left a figure with a guitar, and the head of Pantaloon at right, peering over the clown’s shoulder.  Height, 14 inches; width, 11 ¾ inches.
            Note: A variation of this subject by Watteau is in the collection of Lord D’Albernon [Sir Edgar Vincent], London. Cf. E. Heinrich Zimmerman, Watteau, Des Meisters Werke, Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1912, pp. 24 and 165. From M. Warneck Paris, 1890 [See illustration]”
Sold for $600 to Samuel Schepps.

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adhémar, Watteau (1950), under cat. 155.

Macchia and Montagni, Tutti l’opera di Watteau (1968), under cat. 204.

Weitzenhoffer, Creation of the Havemeyer Collection (1982), 128, 141.

Weitzenhoffer, The Havemeyers (1986), 64.

Frelinghuysen et al, A Splendid Legacy (1993), 211, 382.

 

REMARKS

Like the copy that was in the Rosenheim collection (copy 1), this version disappeared from sight almost a century ago. Both are remarkably good copies.

 

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 7)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

34.9 x 43.2 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Columbine and Other Actors

 

PROVENANCE

San Francisco, sale, Bonhams, August 19, 2007, lot 2040: “Manner of Jean Antoine Watteau / Colombine and other actors from the Commedia dell’Arte / unsigned / oil on canvas / 13¾ x 17 in.” Sold for $1,200 including premium

 

REMARKS

This is an awkward, unschooled version of Watteau’s composition. It changed the format into a .
horizontal one.

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 8)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on copper

26 x 17.2 cm

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, sale, Artemesia Auctions, December 12, 2007, lot 61: “École Française du XVIIIème siècle: Les habits sont italiens. Huile sur cuivre. 26 x 17.2 cm, d’après la gravure d’Antoine Watteau, cadre en bois du XVIIIème siècle. Estimation 3 000€/ 4 000€.”

 

REMARKS

This version of Watteau’s composition follows the color scheme of the painting at Waddesdon Manor. Did the copyist base his work on that, an accurate copy, or a modern reproduction?

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 9)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

27.3 x 22.2 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Actors from the Commedia dell’Arte

           

PROVENANCE

San Francisco, sale, Bonhams, April 15, 2012, lot 5043: “Follower of Jean Antoine Watteau . . . Actors from the Commedia dell’Arte / oil on canvas / 10 ¾ x 8 ¾ in.” Sold for $2,125 including premium.

 

REMARKS

The colors of the costumes—especially the principal actress’ white dress with pink accents and the almost red costume of the female Harlequin—betray the hand of a copyist who did not understand or follow Watteau’s plan.

           

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 10)
Entered September 2021

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

30.5 x 22.5 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Szene mit Pierrot

 

PROVENANCE

Munich, sale, Hampel Fine Art Auctions, March 24, 2012, lot 1671: “Maler des 19. Jahrhunderts. SZENE MIT PIERROT NACH WATTEAU / Öl auf Leinward / 30.5 x 22.5 cm. . . . Estimate: €500 - 700.” The painting bought in.
 
Munich, sale, Hampel Fine Art Auctions, December 7, 2012, lot 1878: “Maler des 19. Jahrhunderts. Szene mit Pierrot nach Watteau, Öl auf Leinward. 30.5 x 22.5 cm. Estimate: 200 € / 300 €.” Sold for € 320.

 

REMARKS

This is a very weak copy, apparently in poor condition.

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 11)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

60 x 73.5 cm

 

           
ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Arlequin, Pierrot et Scapin

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Washington, Paris, Berlin, Watteau 1684-1721 (1984) under cat P19.

 

PROVENANCE

Mâcon, sale, Quai des enchères, October 26, 2013, lot 246: “École français du XVIIIème siècle, suiveur d’Antoine Watteau. La Leçon de musique et Arlequin, Pierrot et Scapin paires de toiles 60 x 73,5cm et 57 x 70cm, repris de gravures de Louis Surugue d’o’euvres de Watteau connues par plusieurs versions, restaurations anciennes et manques. Estimation 800€ / 1000€.”

REMARKS

Watteau’s composition has been recast into a horizontal format by a painter with few skills. The transformation of the principal actress’ chaste costume into one with a circus of colors, topped by a headdress with blue ostrich plumes, tells us much about the copyist’s taste.

The pendant, based upon the Jean de Jullienne engraving after Watteau’s La Leçon de musique, suffers from the same characteristics. It is quite unlikely that these works were executed in the eighteenth century.

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 12)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on copper

24 x 18.5 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

La Troupe italienne

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, sale, Artcurial, February 18, 2015, lot 238: “ECOLE ALLEMANDE DU XVIIIE SIÈCLE / D’après Antoine Watteau / La troupe italienne / Huile sur cuivre / 24 x 18,50 cm (9,45 x 7,28 in)  (Restaurations) / Sans cadre / D’après la composition d’Antoine Watteau dont l’oeuvre la plus vraisemblable serait celle conservée à Waddesdon Manor. /  1 200 -- 1 500 € .“ Sold for 1,800 €.

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 13)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on panel

22 x 29 cm

 

PROVENANCE

Rochefort, private collection. via ebay, August 2020: Rare ancien tableau huile sur bois, école Française du XIX d’après Antoine Watteau. “Les habits sont italiens” / Bon état, traces et usures du temps, voir photos. Dimensions 22 x 29 cm.”

 

REMARKS

This is a brightly colored rendition of Watteau’s composition, evident not only in the cherry red curtain at the right but also the blue and green of the principal actress’ dress.

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 14)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

113 x 78.7 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES           

Comedia del Arte

 

PROVENANCE

Los Angeles, sale, Bonhams, October 5, 2015, lot 5022: Manner of François Louis Watteau, Comedia del Arte / 44 ½ x 31in / US$ 4,000 – 6,000 / £3,100 - 4,700.

 

REMARKS

The attribution of this painting to François Louis Joseph Watteau (1758-1823), Antoine Watteau’s great nephew, is only a ploy of the marketplace to give a name to an otherwise anonymous copy. The blue blouse and yellow skirt of the principal actress are particularly noteworthy.

 

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 15)
Entered September 2023

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

39 x 32 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Personnages de la Comedia dell’arte

 

PROVENANCE

Limoges, sale, Limoges Enchères, December 10, 2020, lot 47: “Ecole française du XIXè siècle. ‘Personnages de la Comedia dell’arte’ dans le goût de Watteau: Huile sur toile encadré. Rentoilage. 39 x 32 cm. Porte une inscription Claude Gillot à l’arrière.”

 

REMARKS

Given Claude Gillot’s close association with the French theater, the ascription of this work to him might be reasonable if only the painting had some quality. But it does not.

 

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 16)
Entered September 2023

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on panel

35.6 x 25.4 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Harlequin Playing Guitar and Pierrot with Elegant Figures

 

PROVENANCE

London, sale, Roseberys, November 24, 2020, lot 34: “Manner of Jean-Antoine Watteau, early 19th century Harlequin Playing Guitar and Pierrot with Elegant Figures; oil on panel, a pair, 25x23 cm (2). Estimate: £400 - £600+Fees.”

 

REMARKS

 

The pendant picture was wrongly described as “Harlequin Playing Guitar” whereas the guitarist is actually Mezetin, and the composition as a whole is based on the engraving after Watteau’s Sous un habit de Mezetin.  Not coincidentally, the two engravings were paired in the Jullienne corpus, which is what inspired the artist responsible for this pairing of pictures, and also another set of pendants (copy 3).

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 17)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

39.5 x 31.75 cm

 

PROVENANCE

New York, Doyle Auctions

Asheville, N.C., Brunck Auctions, September 9, 2006, lot 603: “Painting after Watteau, characters from the Italian Commedia Dell’Arte, unsigned, oil on canvas, old Doyle Auction label verso, old label verso “Watteau / Ecole Francaise XVIII Siecle Personnages de la Comedie Italianne”, French School, late 18th / early 19th century, 15-3/8 x 12-1/2 in.; modern gilt wood frame. Lined, retouch throughout, crackle, frame with abrasions.” Bought in.

 

REMARKS

The ascription of this picture to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century seems unjustified.

 

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 18)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on copper

Measurements unknown

 

            
ALTERNATIVE TITLES

The Actors of the Italian Comedy

 

PROVENANCE

London, collection of William Goding. His sale, London, Christie’s, June 19, 1883, lot 731: “WATTEAU. . . . THE ACTORS OF THE ITALIAN COMEDY / Engraved by Simoneau.”

 

REMARKS

Despite Christie’s not using the Jullienne title, the identity of the painting is confirmed by the engraver’s name.

 

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 19)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

25.5 x 20 cm

            
ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Les Habits italiens

 

PROVENANCE

Versailles, sale, Palais des Congrès, June 24, 1979, lot 30: “WATTEAU (Ecole de) . . . LES HABITS ITALIENS. Toile. Haut.: 25,5 cm. – Larg.: 20 cm. / L’original de ce tableau est reproduit  dans «Watteau, sa vie, son oeuvre» de Hélène ADHEMAR, éditions Pierre Tisné, page 85. Voir la reproduction ci-dessus.”

 

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 20)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on panel

24 x 16 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Personage de la comédie italienne

 

PROVENANCE

Versailles, Hôtel Rameau, June 7, 1972, lot 70: “PIETRO LONGHI . . . PERSONNAGES DE LA COMEDIE ITALIENNE. Deux peintures sur bois en pendants. Hauteur 24 cm. Largeur: 16 cm. Pour la reproduction ci-contre de l’une de deux.”

 

REMARKS

Unfortunately the sale catalogue does not illustrate the pendant, nor does it offer sufficient information to identify that composition.

 

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 21)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on oak panel

16.5 x 21 cm

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot, June 19, 2013, lot 105: “École FRANÇAISE du XIX siècle . . . Le depart pour le bal. Les habits sont italiens. . . Paire de panneaux de chêne, une non parqueté, 16,5 x 21 cm. Le  premier est la reprise du tableau conservé à Saint-Petersbourg, musée de l’Ermitage (panneau, 19 x 24 cm). Le second est la reprise partielle d’un tableau perdu connu par la gravure de Watteau. . . . Estimation 1 000 – 1 500 EUR.”

 

REMARKS

 

Watteau’s vertical composition with three-quarter length figures was reconfigured as a horizontal composition with half-length figures so as to make the picture correspond with the horizontal, half-length figures of its pendant, a copy after Coquettes, qui pour voir.

 

 

 

 

 

Les Habits sont italiens (copy 22)
Entered September 2023

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

96 x 85 cm

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot Richelieu (Pescheteau-Badin), December 12, 2007, lot 49: “Ecole FRANÇAISE du XIXème, d’après Antoine WATTEAU / Les habits sont italiens . . .  Toile / 96 x 85 cm / Reprise de la gravure que Watteau fit d’après un de ses tableaux aujourd’hui disparu (voir Tout l’oeuvre peint de Watteau, Paris, 1970,  no 204, reproduit) 2 000/ 3 000€.” Sold for €2,600.

 

REMARKS

This exceptionally large copy is well executed, especially in comparison with with so many of the other replicas after Watteau’s composition.

 

 

 

 

 

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