10th HUSSAR REGIMENT OF THE FIRST EMPIRE: SOLDIERS OF STRASBOURG CARDBOARD CARD FIGURINE painted in gouache by the WURTZ family, second half of the 19th century, circa 1815-1848. 31156-33

10TH HUSSARS REGIMENT FIRST EMPIRE: STRASBOURG SOLDIERS CARDBOARD FIGURE BY THE WURTZ FAMILY, SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY, AROUND 1815-1848. 31156-33

A cavalryman, H from the bottom of the base to eye level 10.5 cm.
Glued 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 who became an antiquarian between the two World Wars. To my knowledge, no biography or article has ever been published about this individual, who is nevertheless known to collectors and often cited in the provenance of historical objects of significant quality. That's why I will open my archives to shed 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 interests in military memorabilia; both would draw and publish 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 preferred quarters of antiquarians. 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 era, his first fine saber; he called it his 'good luck charm' and always kept it.
The profession of antiquarian allowed Saint-Aubin to see and possess these highly regarded objects for some time. A knowledgeable specialist, he never made mistakes, and his clients benefited from his expertise. A passionate researcher, everything he discovered in his life was remarkably diverse. Silent and modest, he had an art and a manner that left an indelible impression on collectors who knew him well.
Like most military object dealers of that time, Marcel Saint-Aubin did not have a store. He would receive clients in his apartment where few objects were present and they only occupied a temporary space. Usually, like Paul Jean, he would fetch the items he wanted to sell from the neighboring room and presented them without saying much, with a slight smile, or if the presented object was truly exceptional, he would simply say in a subdued tone, 'It's 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 district of antiquarians.
His love for the objects he parted with was evident even in the meticulous care he took in packaging them. Very skilled with his hands, he perfectly protected even the most modest piece.
Marcel Saint-Aubin passed away at the age of 83, leaving behind the respect of all those who knew him, and universally remembered as 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 easily multiply their numbers.
Christian Blondieau, in his book "Little soldiers of lead, tin, paper, cardboard... 1765-1965 - The collector's guide," published by Le Képi Rouge, Paris 1996, specifies the cardboard soldiers:
"[...] unlike paper soldiers intended more for children, often colored in a clumsy manner, the cardboard soldier is designed for adults and provides a guarantee of great uniform accuracy, which serves as the basis for our modern documentation...
Why are the little soldiers from Alsace referenced? Because they were in most cases 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 residents of Strasbourg (a garrison town at the time) saw a large number of soldiers with colorful uniforms passing through their streets heading to fight in Germany.
This influx of troops, which lasted for over fifteen years, inspired some to draw these beautiful soldiers 'on the fly.'
Alsatian authors commonly cite Benjamin Zix (1772-1811) as the pioneer of this genre. Leading ahead of Léopold Beyer, the German Geisler, or the Austrian Klein, the Alsatian Zix provided a very realistic view of the soldiers of the time, as he himself a fighter, traveled the 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[...]."
During the First Empire, Strasbourg had around 30,000 inhabitants, with a permanent garrison between 6,000 and 10,000 soldiers. However, this city was also the obligatory passage for countless troops of the Revolution and the Grande Armée who were heading to campaigns across the Rhine.
Among all these artists, and for this period, the three most well-known are: Thiébaut Borerst (mistakenly spelled Boersch) (1782-1824), a miller baker who started drawing around 1800, the nephew of the painter Benjamin Zix, his collection was sold at auction in Angers on March 10, 1971, his style is probably the most refined we know. Eugène Nicollet (1802-1872), who painted his soldiers from 1817 (at the age of 15) for 55 years, his collection is kept in the Compiègne Museum, 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 "captured," this collection held in the Musée de l'Armée in Paris has the characteristic of representing the soldiers of the National Guard of Strasbourg, among others.
Other artists also worked in a similar manner: Frédérik Schmidt (born in 1796). Additionally, Édouard Kratz (1803-1885), Schmidt's son (born in 1824), Théodore Carl (born in 1837)...

WURTZ-PEEZ COLLECTION (Würtz German spelling):
Wurtz began his research under the First Empire thanks to his friend J.P Lévêque, a former surgeon of the Grande Armée who had gathered substantial documentation on Napoleon's armies. He started making his figurines in 1825 with the help of his son and later Pees, his father-in-law. The son continued the production with the assistance of his father-in-law Mr. Pees, completing 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. 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 the troops of the First Empire." Each regiment is depicted in all ranks and types of uniforms exhaustively, which is rare in representations of Strasbourg soldiers. The son of Mr. Wurtz, Frédéric Wurtz, probably supplemented the uniforms he had not observed himself from other documentary sources.
Upon the fall of the Second Empire, Frédéric Wurtz refused to remain in Strasbourg under Prussian occupation and moved to Paris, where he operated a pharmacy at Boulevard de Clichy. 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 senior doctor; they were exhibited in 1938 and have remained there since.
Specialist expert Christian Blondieau compares Wurtz's style to that of Nicollet and Kratz.