13th and 14th REGIMENTS OF HUSSARS FIRST EMPIRE: SOLDIERS FROM STRASBOURG CARDBOARD FIGURINE GOUACHE PAINTED BY THE WURTZ FAMILY, SECOND HALF OF THE 19th CENTURY, AROUND 1815-1848. 31156-36.

13th and 14th REGIMENTS OF HUSSARS FIRST EMPIRE: SOLDIERS OF STRASBOURG CARDBOARD FIGURE gouache painted by the WURTZ family, second half of the 19th century, circa 1815-1848. 31156-36

Two Hussar soldiers, H from the bottom 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.
Monsieur Marcel Saint-Aubin, a collector turned antiquarian between the two wars. To my knowledge, no biography or article has ever been published about this personality, who is nevertheless known to collectors and often cited in the provenance of historical objects of high quality. That is 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 set up as an antiquarian. In 1926, he lived at 108 rue de Ménilmontant (Paris 20th), far from the favored 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: a light cavalry officer's saber from the Consulate, his first beautiful saber; he called it his 'good luck charm' and always kept it.
The antiquarian profession allowed Saint-Aubin to see and possess these cherished objects for a time. A discerning connoisseur, he never made mistakes, and his clients benefited from his expertise. A passionate researcher, everything he discovered in his life was remarkably varied. Silent and modest, he had an art and a manner that left an indelible memory among the enthusiasts who knew him.
Like most dealers in military items at that time, Marcel Saint-Aubin did not have a shop. He received clients in his apartment, where few objects were found and they only occupied temporary spaces. Generally, like Paul Jean, he would fetch the objects he wanted to sell from the neighboring room and would present them most often without saying anything, with a slight smile, or if the presented object was truly exceptional, he would simply say without raising his voice, '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 antique dealers' district.
His love for the items he parted with was evident in the care he took in packaging them. Handy with his hands, he protected even the most modest piece 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 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 number.
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 regarding cardboard soldiers:
"Contrary to paper soldiers intended more for children, often colored in a clumsy manner, the cardboard soldier is made for adults and ensures a high level of uniform accuracy, serving as the basis for our modern documentation...
Why are the little soldiers of Alsace referenced? Because they were mostly made 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 troops with colorful uniforms passing through their streets heading to fight in Germany.
This influx of troops, which lasted over fifteen years, inspired some to 'capture' these beautiful soldiers in action.
Alsatian authors unanimously mention Benjamin Zix (1772-1811) as the genre's precursor. Ahead of Léopold Beyer, the German Geisler, or the Austrian Klein, the Alsatian Zix provides a very realistic aspect of the soldiers of the time, actively fighting and often armed with a pencil rather than a rifle. He became a military officer painter.
From the peace of 1815 to the war of 1914, Strasbourg artists from generation to generation continued this need to draw and paint[...]."
During the First Empire, Strasbourg had around 30,000 inhabitants, with a permanent garrison of 6,000 to 10,000 soldiers. However, the city was also the gateway for countless troops from the Revolution and the Grande Armée heading for campaigns across the Rhine.
Among all these artists for this period, the three best known are: Thiébaut Borerst (incorrectly spelled Boersch) (1782-1824), a baker who started drawing around 1800, the nephew of the painter Benjamin Zix, his collection was auctioned in Angers on March 10, 1971. His style is probably the most accomplished known to us. Eugène Nicollet (1802-1872), who painted his soldiers from 1817 (at age 15) for 55 years, his collection is kept 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 soldier's name as "captured," this collection kept at the Museum of the Army in Paris has the feature of representing the soldiers of the National Guard of Strasbourg, among others. Other artists have worked in a similar way: Frédérik Schmidt (born in 1796). But we can also mention Édouard Kratz (1803-1885), Schmidt's son (born in 1824), Théodore Carl (born in 1837)...

WURTZ-PEEZ COLLECTION (Würtz German spelling):
Wurtz began his documentation under the First Empire thanks to his friend J.P LÉvêque, a former surgeon of the Grande Armée who had compiled important documentation on Napoleon's armies. He began making his figurines in 1825 with the help of his son and then Pees, his father-in-law. The production was continued by the son, who completed his "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. 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 that they are "the most accurate and comprehensive representation of the troops of the First Empire." Each regiment is represented in all ranks and types of uniforms exhaustively, which is rare in the representations of Strasbourg soldiers.
The son of Mr. Wurtz, Frédéric Wurtz, likely completed the uniforms he did not personally observe through other documentary sources.
At the fall of the Second Empire, Frédéric Wurtz refused to remain in Strasbourg under Prussian occupation and moved to Paris on boulevard de Clichy, where he ran a pharmacy. Following his death in 1898, the majority of his collection - nearly 16,000 figurines - was donated to the Army Museum on October 1, 1899, by his widow and his son, a medical major. They were exhibited in 1938 and have remained there since.
The expert specialist Christian Blondieau considers Wurtz's style comparable to that of Nicollet and Kratz.