IMPERIAL GUARD FOOT GRENADIERS: SOLDIERS OF STRASBOURG CARDBOARD FIGURINE painted in gouache by the WURTZ family, second third of the 19th century, circa 1815-1848. 31156-2

INFANTRY GRENADIERS OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD: SOLDIERS FROM STRASBOURG CARDBOARD FIGURINE gouached by the WURTZ family, second half of the 19th century, circa 1815-1848. 31156-2

Three foot soldiers, height from the base of the plinth to eye level 8.5 cm.
Mounted on a wooden base.

France.
First half of the 19th century.
Good condition.

PROVENANCE:
Former Wurtz-Pees collection, then Saint-Aubin, and private collection.
Mr. Marcel Saint-Aubin, a collector who became an antiquarian between the two World Wars. To my knowledge, no biography or article has ever been published about this personality, who is, however, known among collectors and frequently mentioned in the provenance of historical objects, often of high quality. Therefore, I will open my archives to shed more light on this great connoisseur:
"Mobilized during the First World War, along with his brother, in the infantry, the latter was killed at Verdun. Both shared the same tastes for military memorabilia; both drew and published their drawings in the magazine 'La Giberne' before 1914.
After the war, he established himself as an antiquarian. In 1926, he lived at 108 rue de Ménilmontant (Paris 20th), far from the antique dealer districts. His choice focused on the specialty that had attracted him for a long time: military curiosities. The spark that led him to this specialty came from his first find: a Consulate light cavalry officer's sword, his first beautiful sword; he called it his 'lucky charm' and always kept it.
The profession of antiquarian allowed Saint-Aubin to see and possess these highly appreciated objects for a while. A fine connoisseur, he never made mistakes, and his clients benefited from his knowledge. A passionate researcher, everything he discovered in his life was surprisingly varied. Silent and modest, he had a way and a manner that left an indelible memory with the collectors who knew him.
Like most military object dealers of that time, Marcel Saint-Aubin did not have a shop. He received guests in his apartment, where few objects were present and occupied only temporary space. Generally, like Paul Jean, he would fetch the items he wanted to sell from the neighboring room and present them often without saying anything, with a slight smile, or if the item presented was truly exceptional, he would simply say, without raising his tone, 'This is top-notch...'.
In June 1940, during the occupation, he left for Guingamp. He returned to Paris and resettled at the end of 1951, in the house he had purchased, 16 rue Henri Pape, in the 13th arrondissement, once again, far from the antique dealer district.
His love for the objects he parted with was reflected even in the care he took in packaging them. Very skilled with his hands, he perfectly protected even the most modest pieces.
Marcel Saint-Aubin died at the age of 83, taking with him the esteem of all who knew him, leaving behind the memory of a man of great moral values."

HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
The soldiers from Strasbourg are cardboard figurines, "flat" soldiers, cut from rigid cardboard. In most cases, these soldiers are drawn and then printed on sheets to multiply their numbers more easily.
Christian Blondieau, in his work "Petits soldats de plomb, d'étain, de papier, de carton ... 1765-1965 - Le guide du collectionneur" ("Little lead, tin, paper, cardboard soldiers... 1765-1965 - The collector's guide"), Editions Le Képi Rouge, Paris 1996, specifies for cardboard soldiers:
"[...] unlike paper soldiers intended more for children, often colored in a clumsy way, the cardboard soldier is made for adults and guarantees great uniform precision, which serves as the basis for our modern documentation...
Why do the little soldiers from Alsace stand out? Because they were mostly created by eyewitnesses of the time or their descendants and are often contemporary to the era they represent.
During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, the residents of Strasbourg (then a garrison town) saw a large number of soldiers with colorful uniforms passing through their city on their way to battle in Germany.
This influx of troops, which lasted for more than fifteen years, gave some the idea to 'sketch' these handsome soldiers on the spot.
Alsatian authors agree on naming Benjamin Zix (1772-1811) as the pioneer of this genre. Anticipating Léopold Beyer, the German Geisler, or the Austrian Klein, the Alsatian Zix provides a very realistic aspect of the soldiers of the time, as he himself, a fighter, wandered the battlefields armed more often with a pencil than a rifle. He became the Army's drawing officer.
From the peace of 1815 to the war of 1914, Strasbourg artists continued this need to draw and paint from generation to generation [...]."
During the First Empire, Strasbourg had approximately 30,000 inhabitants, with a permanent garrison of between 6,000 and 10,000 soldiers, but this city was also the mandatory passage for countless troops of the Revolution and the Grande Armée heading for campaigns beyond the Rhine.
Of all these artists during this period, the three most well-known are: Thiébaut Borerst (incorrectly spelled Boersch) (1782-1824), a miller who began drawing around 1800, the nephew of the painter Benjamin Zix, his collection was auctioned in Angers on March 10, 1971, and his style is likely the most refined we know of. Eugène Nicollet (1802-1872) who painted his soldiers from 1817 (when he was 15) for 55 years; his collection is kept at the Compiègne Museum, and his style is more naive. Wurtz, whom we dedicate a specific paragraph to. Paul Schmidt, whose every figurine is annotated on the back with the name of the depicted soldier, this collection is kept at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris and notably represents the soldiers of the National Guard of Strasbourg, among others.
Other artists also worked in a similar manner: Frédérik Schmidt (born in 1796). Additionally, we can mention Édouard Kratz (1803-1885), Schmidt's son (born in 1824), Théodore Carl (born in 1837)...

WURTZ-PEEZ COLLECTION (Würtz in German spelling):
Wurtz began compiling his documentation from the First Empire with the help of his friend J.P LÉvêque, a former surgeon of the Grande Armée who had gathered significant documentation on Napoleon's armies. He started making his figurines in 1825 with the assistance of his son and then his stepfather Pees. The production continued under the son's guidance, who completed the Napoleonic collection with the help of his stepfather in the Second Republic (1850). Some of the figurines presented bear the date 1848 on the back of the cardboard. These figurines are of high quality. In Edward Ryan's book "Paper Soldiers the illustrated history of printed paper armies of the 18th, 19th & 20th centuries" (Golden Age Editions, London 1995), it is stated that they are 'the most precise and comprehensive representation of the troops of the First Empire'. Each regiment is depicted in all ranks and types of uniforms exhaustively, which is rare in the representations of Strasbourg soldiers.
The son of Mr. Wurtz, Frédéric Wurtz, likely supplemented the uniforms he had not personally observed based on other documentary sources.
At the fall of the Second Empire, Frédéric Wurtz refused to stay in Strasbourg under Prussian occupation and moved to Paris, specifically on Boulevard de Clichy, where he ran a pharmacy. Following his death in 1898, most of his collection - nearly 16,000 figurines - was donated to the Musée de l’Armée on October 1, 1899, by his widow and his son, a senior physician; they were exhibited in 1938 and have remained there since.
Expert and specialist Christian Blondieau considers Wurtz's style comparable to that of Nicollet and Kratz.