Lot 53: Gilles-Marie Oppenordt (Paris 1672-1742)

Gilles-Marie Oppenordt (Paris 1672-1742)
A woman dancing and playing the tambourine, a man playing the guitar, in an ornamental cartouche
pen and brown ink, brown and grey wash, watercolor, heightened with white, on light brown paper, made up at the edges
13¼ x 16 7/8 in. (336 x 428 mm.)

A couple in contemporary dress play music and dance in front of an elaborate console upon which lay pieces of silver and which are flanked by two girandoles. Behind them even more surprisingly is a large silver urn from which grows an orange tree. The entire display is framed by an ornate baldachin. On either side of this stage are two torchères with candelabras while intricate arabesques made of fantastic animals, acanthus leaves and flowers frame the composition. At the bottom center is a basket of flowers in a cartouche bordered with feathers.
This drawing where Oppenordt deploys his great talent of exuberant invention can be compared to a sheet of similar dimensions also touched with watercolor engraved by Charles-Nicolas Cochin as a project for a tapestry (Christie's, Paris, 10 April 2008, lot 71).