YOUNG GUARD IMPERIAL TIRAILLEURS FIRST EMPIRE: STRASBOURG SOLDIERS CARDBOARD FIGURINE GOUACHE PAINTED BY THE WURTZ FAMILY, SECOND HALF OF THE 19th CENTURY, AROUND 1815-1848. 31156-9

YOUNG GUARD IMPERIAL TIRAILLEURS FIRST EMPIRE: SOLDIERS OF STRASBOURG CARDBOARD FIGURINE gouache by the WURTZ family, second half of the 19th century, circa 1815-1848. 31156-9

Three pedestrians, H from the bottom of the base to eye level 8.5 cm.
Glued 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 who became an antiquarian between the wars. To my knowledge, no biography or article has ever been published about this personality, who is nevertheless known among collectors and is often cited in the provenance of historical objects of high quality. That is 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 taste 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), far from the favorite districts of antiquarians. His choice focused on the specialty that had attracted him for a long time: military curiosities. His first beautiful sword, an officer's sabre from the Consulate period, was his 'good luck charm,' and he always kept it. The profession of antiquarian allowed Saint-Aubin to see and possess these objects for some time. 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 diverse. Silent and modest, he had an art and a manner that left an unforgettable memory among the collectors 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 could be found and they only occupied a temporary place. Generally, like Paul Jean, he would fetch the items he wanted to sell in the next room and would 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 voice, '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 acquired at 16 rue Henri Pape, in the 13th arrondissement, once again, far from the antique dealer districts. His love for the objects he parted with was evident in the care he took in their packaging. Very handy with his hands, he protected even the most modest pieces perfectly. Marcel Saint-Aubin passed away 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 CONTEXT:
The soldiers of Strasbourg are cardboard figurines, "flat" soldiers, cut from rigid cardboard. In most cases, these soldiers are drawn and then printed in 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" Paris, Le Képi Rouge, 1996, specifies about cardboard soldiers: "[...] unlike paper soldiers, which are more intended for young audiences and often colored in a clumsy manner, the cardboard soldier is designed for adults and provides a guarantee of great uniformological precision, which serves as the basis for our modern documentation... Why do little soldiers from Alsace make a reference? Because they were mostly created by eyewitnesses of the time or their descendants and are often contemporary to the period they represent. During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the inhabitants of Strasbourg (a garrison town at the time) saw a large number of soldiers with colorful uniforms passing through their streets, heading to battle in Germany. This influx of troops, which lasted more than fifteen years, gave some the idea to capture these beautiful soldiers in the act. Alsatian authors agree in citing Benjamin Zix (1772-1811) as the genre's precursor. Leading Léopold Beyer, the German Geisler, or the Austrian Klein, Alsatian Zix gives us a very realistic view of the soldier of that time, as he was himself a combatant, traversing battlefields more often armed with a pencil than a rifle. He became an officer-drawer of the army. From the peace of 1815 to the war of 1914, Strasbourg artists continued this need to draw and paint from generation to generation..."

Regarding the Collection of Wurtz (German spelling "Würtz"):
Wurtz started his documentation under the First Empire and began making his figurines in 1815. 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 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. The author Edward Ryan in his work “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 representations of soldiers from Strasbourg. The son of Mr. Wurtz likely completed the uniforms he did not personally observe using other documentary sources, leaving no notes or documentation. Upon the fall of the Second Empire, Wurtz's son refused to remain in Strasbourg under Prussian occupation and moved to Paris, where he ran a pharmacy in the Porte de Clichy neighborhood. After his death in 1899, most of his collection - around 19,000 figurines originating from his ancestor - was donated to the Museum of the Army on October 1st of the same year; they were exhibited in 1938 and have remained there since. Specialist expert Christian Blondieau judges Wurtz's style to be comparable to that of Nicollet and Kratz.