Lot 177: Pieces of parade armour, a plumed helmet, a pistol in a case, a gilt ewer , a silver perfume burner, a jewellery box, a trumpet and a flag on a partly-draped cassone , with a parrot, a renaissance pillar clock on a pedestal and a drum and a mace

Madeleine de Boulogne (Paris 1648-1710) Pieces of parade armour, a plumed helmet, a pistol in a case, a gilt ewer , a silver perfume burner, a jewellery box, a trumpet and a flag on a partly-draped cassone , with a parrot, a renaissance pillar clock on a pedestal and a drum and a mace on a stone floor oil on canvas 52½ x 72 in. (133.5 x 183 cm.)

with Didier Aaron, Paris, from whom purchased on 24 February 1988 by
Rudolf Nureyev; (+) Christie's, New York, 13 January 1995, lot 121.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 11 July 2001, lot 110.

Madeleine de Boulogne's recorded oeuvre is confined to her sumptuous still-lifes, such as this lot, which, with their juxtaposition of armour and books, denote both the intellectual and physical emblems of life. Boulogne was a successful female artist working in the court of Louis XIV and undertook a number of royal commissions, including a scheme of eight pictures for the King's appartement at Versailles. In 1699, she submitted paintings to the Académie Royale in Paris, and in 1673 is again recorded as exhibiting six works, all depicting trophies of war.