5th REGIMENT OF HUSSARS FIRST EMPIRE: STRASBOURG SOLDIERS CARDBOARD FIGURINE GOUACHE PAINTED BY THE WURTZ FAMILY, SECOND THIRD OF THE 19th CENTURY, AROUND 1815-1848. 31156-28

5th HUSSARS REGIMENT FIRST EMPIRE: SOLDIERS OF STRASBOURG CARDBOARD FIGURINE PAINTED IN GOUACHE by the WURTZ family, second half of the 19th century, circa 1815-1848. 31156-28

Two cavalrymen, H from the base of the stand to eye level 10.5 cm.
Mounted on a wooden stand.

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 wars. To my knowledge, no biography or articles have ever been published about this personality, who is nevertheless well known among collectors and often cited in the provenance of historical objects of high quality. That is why I will open my archives to better acquaint you with 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 souvenirs; each of them drew and published their drawings in the magazine "La Giberne" before 1914. After the war, he settled as an antiquarian. In 1926, he lived at 108 rue de Ménilmontant (Paris 20th), far from the preferred areas of antiquarians. His choice focused on the specialty that had attracted him for a long time: military curiosities. His first significant sword was a Consulate era cavalry officer's saber; he called it his "good luck charm," and he always kept it. The profession of an antiquarian allowed Saint-Aubin to see and possess these cherished objects for some time. A keen expert, he never made mistakes, and his clients benefited from his knowledge. A passionate researcher, everything he discovered in his life was remarkably varied. Silent and modest, he had an art and manner that left an indelible impression among enthusiasts who knew him. Like most military items merchants of that time, Marcel Saint-Aubin did not have a shop. He would receive visitors in his apartment, where only a few objects were temporarily displayed. Generally, like Paul Jean, he would fetch the items he wanted to sell from the neighboring room and present them usually without a word, with a slight smile, or if the object presented was truly exceptional, he would simply say, without raising his voice, 'This is something special...' 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 antiquarian district. His love for the items he parted with was reflected even in the care he took in their packaging. Very skilled with his hands, he would perfectly protect 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 the memory of a man of great moral values."

HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
The soldiers of Strasbourg are cardboard figurines, "flat" soldiers, cut out from rigid cardboard. In most cases, these soldiers are drawn and then printed on sheets for easier multiplication. Christian Blondieau, in his work "Petits soldats de plomb, d'étain, de papier, de carton... 1765-1965 - Le guide du collectionneur" published by Le Képi Rouge in Paris in 1996, specifies regarding cardboard soldiers: "[...] unlike paper soldiers which are primarily intended for children and are often colorized in a clumsy manner, cardboard soldiers are made for adults and provide a guarantee of high uniform accuracy, serving as a basis for our modern documentation... Why do the small soldiers from Alsace hold such significance? Because in most cases, they were created by eyewitnesses of the period or their descendants, and are often contemporaneous with the era they represent. During the wars of the Revolution and the Empire, the inhabitants of Strasbourg (then a garrison town) witnessed a large number of troops with multicolored uniforms passing through their city on their way to fight in Germany. This influx of troops, which lasted for more than fifteen years, inspired some to 'sketch' these beautiful soldiers in action. Alsatian authors generally mention Benjamin Zix (1772-1811) as the genre's precursor. Preceding Léopold Beyer, the German Geisler, or the Austrian Klein, Alsatian Zix provides us with a very realistic view of the soldiers of the time, as he himself, a combatant, roamed battlefields more often armed with a pencil than a gun. He became an officer and artist. 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. This city also saw countless troops from the Revolution and the Grand Army passing through its streets on their way to the campaigns across the Rhine. Among these artists, the three best known for this period are: Thiébaut Borerst (often misspelled as Boersch) (1782-1824), a miller who started drawing around 1800 and whose style is probably the most refined known to us; Eugène Nicollet (1802-1872), who began painting his soldiers in 1817 (at the age of 15) and continued for 55 years, with his collection now preserved in the Museum of Compiègne; and Wurtz, to whom we dedicate a specific paragraph. Other artists who worked in a similar manner include Frédérik Schmidt (born in 1796).

WURTZ-PEEZ COLLECTION (Würtz in German spelling):
Wurtz began documenting during the First Empire thanks to his friend J.P. Lévêque, a former surgeon of the Grande Armée who had assembled extensive documentation on Napoleon's armies. He started crafting his figurines in 1825 with the help of his son and later his father-in-law Pees. His son continued the production, finishing his "Napoleonic" collection under the Second Republic (1850). Some of the figurines we present bear the date 1848 on the back of the cardboard. These figurines are of very high quality and are considered by 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) as "the most precise and comprehensive representation of the troops of the First Empire." Each regiment is represented in all ranks and uniform types comprehensively, which is rare in the depictions of Strasbourg soldiers. The son of Mr. Wurtz, Frédéric Wurtz, likely filled in the uniforms he did not personally observe using other documentary sources. Upon the fall of the Second Empire, Frédéric Wurtz refused to stay in Strasbourg under Prussian occupation and moved to Paris, where he operated a pharmacy on Boulevard de Clichy. After 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 since. Expert Christian Blondieau considers Wurtz's style comparable to that of Nicollet and Kratz.