CAVALRY GENDARMES OF THE CONSULS' GUARD AND THE IMPERIAL GUARD FIRST EMPIRE: STRASBOURG SOLDIERS FIGURINE MADE OF PAINTED CARDBOARD, painted by the WURTZ family, second half of the 19th century, around 1815-1848. 31156-19

HORSE GENDARMES OF THE CONSULS' GUARD AND THE IMPERIAL GUARD FIRST EMPIRE: STRASBOURG SOLDIERS FIGURINE ON CARDBOARD painted in gouache by the WURTZ family, second third of the 19th century, around 1815-1848. 31156-19

Four riders, height from the base of the base to eye level 10.5 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 turned antiquarian between the two World Wars. To my knowledge, no biography or article has ever been published about this figure who, however, is known to collectors and frequently mentioned in the provenance of historical objects, often of high quality. That's why 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 taste 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 usual 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: an officer's saber 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 cherished objects for a while. A keen connoisseur, he never made mistakes, and his clients benefited from his knowledge. A passionate researcher, everything he discovered in his life was remarkably diverse. Quiet and modest, he had a manner that left an indelible impression on the enthusiasts who knew him.
Like most dealers in military objects of that time, Marcel Saint-Aubin did not have a store. He received clients in his apartment, where few objects were found, and they only occupied a temporary place. Generally, like Paul Jean, he would fetch the items he wanted to sell from the neighboring room and present them mostly without saying anything, with a slight smile, or if the object presented was truly exceptional, he would simply say in a calm tone 'It's worth it...'
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 at 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 evident in the care he took in their packaging. Very skilled with his hands, he perfectly protected even the humblest piece.
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 on sheets to multiply their numbers 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 more intended for youth, often colored awkwardly, the cardboard soldier is designed for adults and guarantees a high level of uniform detail, 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 period they represent.
During the wars of the Revolution and the Empire, the residents 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, gave some the idea to capture on the spot these handsome soldiers.
The Alsatian authors all agree to mention Benjamin Zix (1772-1811) as the precursor of the genre. Leading Léopold Beyer, the German Geisler, or the Austrian Klein, the Alsatian Zix gives us a very realistic aspect of the soldiers of the time, as he himself fought, traversing battlefields more often armed with a pencil than a rifle. He became an Army Officer draftsman.
From the peace of 1815 to the war of 1914, Strasbourg artists continued this need to draw and paint from generation to generation[...] ".
Under the First Empire, Strasbourg had about 30,000 inhabitants, with a permanent garrison of between 6,000 and 10,000 soldiers, but this city was also the obligatory passage of countless troops from the Revolution and the Grand Army heading for campaigns across the Rhine.
Of all these artists, and for this period, the three most well-known are: Thiébaut Borerst (incorrectly spelled Boersch) (1782-1824), a miller-baker who started drawing around 1800, Benjamin Zix's nephew, and his collection was auctioned in Angers on March 10, 1971, his style is probably the most accomplished we know. Eugène Nicollet (1802-1872) who depicted soldiers from 1817 (when he was 15) for 55 years, his collection is preserved at the Museum of Compiègne, 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 depicted, 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 way: Frédérik Schmidt (born in 1796). But we can also mention Édouard Kratz (1803-1885), Schmidt son (born in 1824), Théodore Carl (born in 1837)...

WURTZ-PEEZ (German orthography Würtz) COLLECTION:
Wurtz began his documentation under the First Empire thanks to his friend J.P LÉvêque, a former surgeon of the Grand Army who had gathered significant documentation on Napoleon's armies. He started making his figurines in 1825 with the help of his son and then Pees, his father-in-law. Production continued with the son, who completed the "Napoleonic" collection under the Second Republic (1850), some of the figurines we present have the date 1848 on the back of the cardboard. These figurines are of very high quality. 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 accurate and comprehensive representation of the troops of the First Empire". Each regiment is represented with exhaustive details on all ranks and types of uniforms, which is rare in depictions of Strasbourg soldiers.
Monsieur Wurtz's son, Frédéric Wurtz, probably completed the uniforms he did not observe himself from other documentary sources.
After the fall of the Second Empire, Frédéric Wurtz refused to stay in Strasbourg under Prussian occupation and moved to Paris, 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 medical major; they were exhibited there in 1938 and have remained there since.
Military expert Christian Blondieau considers Wurtz's style comparable to that of Nicollet and Kratz.