INFANTRY HUNTERS OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD FIRST EMPIRE: SOLDIERS OF STRASBOURG CARDBOARD FIGURINE GOUACHE BY THE WURTZ FAMILY, SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY, AROUND 1815-1848. 31156-3

INFANTRY CHASSEURS OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD FIRST EMPIRE: SOLDIERS FROM STRASBOURG CARDBOARD FIGURINE painted by the WURTZ family, second third of the 19th century, circa 1815-1848. 31156-3

Two infantrymen, Height from the base of the pedestal to eye level 8.5 cm.
Mounted on a wooden base.

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


PROVENANCE:
Former Wurtz-Peés collection, then Saint-Aubin, and private collection.
Mr. Marcel Saint-Aubin, was a collector who became an antiquarian between the two World Wars. To my knowledge, no biography or article has ever been published on this personality who is nevertheless known to collectors and frequently mentioned in the provenance of historical objects of high quality. That's why I will open my archives to better introduce 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 set up as an antiquarian. In 1926 he lived at 108 rue de Ménilmontant (Paris 20th), well outside the preferred areas of antique dealers. 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: an officer's saber of light cavalry from the Consulate, his first beautiful saber; 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 some time. A true connoisseur, he never made a mistake and his clients benefited from his knowledge. A passionate researcher, everything he discovered in his life was surprisingly varied. Silent and modest, he had an art and a way that left an indelible memory among the amateurs who knew him.
Like most dealers in military items of that time, Marcel Saint-Aubin did not have a shop. He received clients in his apartment, where few objects were found and they only occupied a temporary place. Generally, like Paul Jean, he would retrieve the objects he wanted to sell from the adjacent room and present them most often without saying anything, with a slight smile, or if the object presented was truly exceptional, he would simply say without raising his voice 'It's the real deal...'.
In June 1940, during the occupation, he left for Guingamp. He returned to Paris where he resettled at the end of 1951, in the house he had acquired, 16 rue Henri Pape, in the 13th arrondissement, once again, far from the district of antique dealers.
His love for the objects from which he parted was evident even in the care he took in packaging them. Very handy with his hands, he perfectly protected even the most modest piece.
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 with great moral values."

HISTORICAL NOTE:
The Soldiers of Strasbourg are cardboard figurines, "flat" soldiers, cut out of rigid cardboard. In most cases, these soldiers are drawn and then printed in sheets to easily multiply their numbers.
Christian Blondieau in his book "Small soldiers of lead, tin, paper, cardboard … 1765-1965 - The collector's guide" published by Le Képi Rouge Paris 1996, specifies that for cardboard soldiers:
"[...] unlike paper soldiers intended more for children, often clumsily colored, the cardboard soldier is designed for adults and guarantees great uniformological precision, which serves as the basis for our modern documentation...
Why are the little soldiers from Alsace referenced? Because they were mostly made by eyewitnesses of the time or their descendants, and are often contemporary to the era they represent.
During the wars of the Revolution and the Empire, the inhabitants of Strasbourg (then a garrison town) saw a large number of soldiers with colorful uniforms passing through their streets, heading to fight in Germany.
This influx of troops, which lasted more than fifteen years, inspired some to sketch these beautiful soldiers in action.
Alsatian authors agree in citing Benjamin Zix (1772-1811) as the pioneer of the genre. Ahead of Léopold Beyer, the German Geisler, or the Austrian Klein, Alsatian Zix provides a very realistic aspect of the soldiers of the time, as he himself, being a combatant, wandered the battlefields more often armed with a pencil than with a rifle. He eventually became an Army Officer illustrator.
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 about 30,000 inhabitants, with a permanent garrison of between 6,000 and 10,000 soldiers. The city also saw the passage of countless troops from the Revolution and the Grande Armée heading for campaigns across the Rhine.
Among all these artists from that period, the three most well-known are: Thiébaut Borerst (sometimes misspelled Boersch) (1782-1824), a miller baker who started drawing around 1800, a nephew of the painter Benjamin Zix, his collection was auctioned in Angers on March 10, 1971, and his style is likely the most accomplished that we know of. Eugène Nicollet (1802-1872) who painted his soldiers from 1817 (at age 15) for 55 years, his collection is housed at the Museum of Compiègne, and his style is more naive. Wurtz, to whom we dedicate a specific paragraph. Paul Schmidt, each figurine of which is annotated on the back with the name of the soldier as 'caught', this collection kept at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris has the characteristic of representing soldiers of the National Guard of Strasbourg, among others.
Other artists also worked in a similar manner: Frédérik Schmidt (born in 1796). But we can also mention Édouard Kratz (1803-1885), Schmidt's son (born in 1824), Théodore Carl (born in 1837)...

WURTZ COLLECTION (German spelling Würtz):
Wurtz began documenting under the First Empire and started making his figurines from 1815 onwards. The production was continued by his son, who completed the collection, with the help of his father-in-law Mr. Peés, in a "Napoleonic" fashion during the Second Republic. Some of the figurines presented have the date 1848 on the back of the cardboard. These figurines are of very 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 written: "the most precise and comprehensive representation of troops of the First Empire." Each regiment is represented in all ranks and types of uniforms in an exhaustive manner, which is rare in the representations of Strasbourg soldiers. The son of Mr. Wurtz probably completed the uniforms he did not observe himself from other documentary sources, leaving no notes or documentation.
At the fall of the Second Empire, Mr. Wurtz's son refused to remain in Strasbourg under Prussian occupation and moved to Paris to the area of the porte de Clichy, where he ran a pharmacy. Following his death in 1899, the bulk of his collection - nearly 19,000 figurines from his predecessor - was donated to the Musée de l’Armée on October 1 of the same year; they were exhibited there in 1938 and have remained there since.
The expert Christian Blondieau judges Wurtz's style as comparable to that of Nicollet and Kratz.