ARTILLERY WORKER AND MUSICIAN FIRST EMPIRE OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD: SOLDIERS OF STRASBOURG CARDBOARD FIGURINE gouache painted by the WURTZ family, second third of the 19th century, circa 1815-1848. 31156-8

ARTILLERY WORKER AND MUSICIAN FIRST EMPIRE OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD: SOLDIERS OF STRASBOURG CARDBOARD FIGURE PAINTED IN GOUACHE by the WURTZ family, second third of the 19th century, circa 1815-1848. 31156-8

Three pedestrians, height from the base of the base 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, a collector turned antiquarian between the two world wars. To my knowledge, no biography or article has ever been published about this figure who is nevertheless known to collectors and often cited in the provenance of historical objects of high quality. Therefore, I will open my archives to better understand this great connoisseur:
"Mobilized during the First World War along with his brother in the infantry, the latter was killed in 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 antique dealer. In 1926 he lived at 108 rue de Ménilmontant (Paris 20th), far from the usual antique dealer districts. His choice focused on the specialty that had long attracted him: military curiosities. The spark that directed him towards this specialty came from his first find: an officer's saber from the Consulate, his first beautiful saber; he called it his 'good luck charm' and always kept it.
The profession of antiquarian allowed Saint-Aubin to see and possess these much-appreciated objects for a while. A fine connoisseur, he never made a mistake, and his clients benefited from his knowledge. A passionate researcher, everything he discovered in his life was amazingly varied. Silent and modest, he had an art and a manner that left an indelible memory among the amateurs who knew him.
Like most military object dealers of that time, Marcel Saint-Aubin did not have a store. He received clients in his apartment, where few objects were found, and they occupied only a temporary place. Generally, like Paul Jean, he would fetch the objects he wanted to sell in the neighboring room and would often present them without saying anything, with a slight smile, or if the item presented was truly exceptional, he would simply say without raising his voice, 'This is top-notch...'.
In June 1940, during the occupation, he went to Guingamp. He returned to Paris and resettled in late 1951 in the house he had acquired at 16 rue Henri Pape, in the 13th arrondissement, again very far from the antique dealer district.
His love for the objects he parted with was evident even in the care he took in their packaging. Very skilled 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 those who knew him, leaving behind a memory of a man with great moral values."

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The soldiers of 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 number more easily.
Christian Blondieau in his book "Petits soldats de plomb, d'étain, de papier, de carton ... 1765-1965 - Le guide du collectionneur" Editions Le Képi Rouge Paris 1996, specifies for cardboard soldiers:
"[...] unlike paper soldiers intended more for youth, often colored in a clumsy way, the cardboard soldier is made for adults and ensures a high level of uniformological precision, which serves as a 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 wars of the Revolution and the Empire, the inhabitants of Strasbourg (a garrison town at the time) saw a large number of soldiers with colorful uniforms marching through their streets heading to fight in Germany.
This influx of troops, lasting more than fifteen years, gave some the idea to "capture" these beautiful soldiers live.
Alsatian authors agree in mentioning Benjamin Zix (1772-1811) as the precursor of the genre. Anticipating Léopold Beyer, the German Geisler, or the Austrian Klein, Alsatian Zix gives us a very realistic depiction of the soldiers of the time, as a soldier himself, he traversed battlefields more often armed with a pencil than a rifle. He became a military officer sketch artist.
From the peace of 1815 to the war of 1914, Strasbourg artists passed down this need to draw and paint from generation to generation [...]".
Under the First Empire, Strasbourg had approximately 30,000 inhabitants, with a permanent garrison of between 6,000 and 10,000 soldiers. However, the city was also the obligatory passage for countless troops of the Revolution and the Grand Army heading to campaigns across the Rhine.
Among all these artists, and for this period, the three most well-known are: Thiébaut Borerst (erroneously spelled Boersch) (1782-1824), a miller who began drawing around 1800, the nephew of the painter Benjamin Zix. His collection was dispersed at an auction in Angers on March 10, 1971, and his style is probably the most accomplished that we know of. Eugène Nicollet (1802-1872) who painted his soldiers from 1817 (he was 15 years old) and continued for 55 years, his collection is preserved at the Museum of Compiègne, and his style is more naive. Wurtz, to whom we dedicate a specific paragraph. Paul Schmidt, whose each figurine is annotated on the back with the name of the soldier as "sketched", this collection preserved at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris depicts the soldiers of the National Guard of Strasbourg, among others. Other artists also worked in a similar manner: Frédérik Schmidt (born in 1796). But one can also mention Édouard Kratz (1803-1885), Schmidt fils (born in 1824), Théodore Carl (born in 1837)...

WURTZ COLLECTION (Würtz in German spelling):
Wurtz began his documentation during the First Empire and started making his figurines from 1815 onwards. The production was continued by his son, who completed his collection with the help of his father-in-law, Mr. Peés, with a "Napoleonic" theme under the Second Republic; some of the figurines we present have the date 1848 on the back of the cardboard. These figurines are of very high quality. The author Edward Ryan in his book "Paper Soldiers the illustrated history of printed paper armies of the 18th, 19th & 20th centuries" (Golden Age Editions, London 1995) writes, "the most precise and comprehensive representation of troops from the First Empire". Each regiment is represented in all ranks and types of uniforms in an exhaustive manner, which is rare in the depictions of Strasbourg soldiers.
Wurtz's son likely filled in the uniforms he did not personally observe from other documentary sources, as he left no notes or documentation.
At the fall of the Second Empire, Wurtz's son refused to remain in Strasbourg under Prussian occupation and moved to Paris, in the Porte de Clichy neighborhood, where he ran a pharmacy. Following his death in 1899, the majority of his collection - nearly 19,000 figurines from his ancestor - was donated to the Musée de l’Armée on October 1 of the same year; they were exhibited in 1938 and have remained there since.
The expert specializing in this field, Christian Blondieau, considers Wurtz's style comparable to that of Nicollet and Kratz.