CAVALRY CUERAURREVOLUTION: STRASBOURG SOLDIERS CARDBOARD FIGURINE painted by the WURTZ family, second half of the 19th century, around 1815-1848. 31156-40

CAVALRY CUIRASSIERS REVOLUTION: STRASBOURG SOLDIERS CARDBOARD FIGURINE gouache painted by the WURTZ family, second half of the 19th century, around 1815-1848. 31156-40

Three cavalrymen, 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 world wars. To my knowledge, no biography or article has ever been published about this personality who is nevertheless known to collectors and often mentioned in the provenance of historical objects of great quality. Therefore, 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, his brother was killed at Verdun. Both shared the same taste for military mementos; 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 removed from the preferred neighborhoods 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 of light cavalry from the Consulate, his first beautiful sword; he called it his 'lucky charm' and always preserved it.
The profession of an antiquarian allowed Saint-Aubin to see and possess these objects for a while. A fine connoisseur, he never made a mistake, 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 collectors who knew him.
Like most dealers of military objects of that time, Marcel Saint-Aubin did not have a store. He received clients in his apartment, where few objects were displayed and only occupied a temporary space. Generally, like Paul Jean, he would fetch the objects he wanted to sell from the neighboring room and would present them mostly without saying a word, with a slight smile, or if the presented object was truly exceptional, he would simply say in a low voice, 'It's the real deal...'.
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 objects he parted with was reflected even in the 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, taking with him the esteem of all who knew him, leaving behind a unanimously cherished memory of a man with great moral values."

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The Strasbourg soldiers 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 work "Petits soldats de plomb, d'étain, de papier, de carton... 1765-1965 - Le guide du collectionneur" (Little Soldiers of Lead, Tin, Paper, Cardboard... 1765-1965 - The Collector's Guide), Editions Le Képi Rouge Paris 1996, specifies regarding cardboard soldiers:
"[...] unlike paper soldiers intended more for youth, often colored in a clumsy manner, cardboard soldiers are made for adults and ensure great uniform precision, which serves as a basis for our modern documentation...
Why do the little soldiers of Alsace stand out? Because they were created in most cases by eyewitnesses of the time or their descendants, and are often contemporary to the era 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 marching through their streets heading off to battle in Germany.
This wave of troops, which lasted more than fifteen years, inspired some to capture these beautiful soldiers in the moment.
Alsatian authors agree on citing Benjamin Zix (1772-1811) as the pioneer of the genre. Anticipating Léopold Beyer, the German Geisler or the Austrian Klein, the Alsatian Zix provides a very realistic aspect of the soldiers of the time, as he himself, a combatant, wandered the battlefields more often armed with a pencil than a rifle. He became a drawing officer in 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[...]."
During the First Empire, Strasbourg had approximately 30,000 inhabitants, with a permanent garrison of between 6,000 and 10,000 soldiers, but this city was also the obligatory passage for countless troops of the Revolution and the Grande Armée heading to campaigns across the Rhine.
Among all these artists, the three most well-known for this period are: Thiébaut Borerst (often misspelled Boersch) (1782-1824), a miller who began drawing around 1800, nephew of the painter Benjamin Zix, his collection was auctioned in Angers on March 10, 1971; his style is probably one of the most refined that we know of. Eugène Nicollet (1802-1872), who painted his soldiers from as early as 1817 (when he was 15 years old) and continued for 55 years, his collection is preserved at the Museum of Compiègne; his style is more naive. Wurtz, to whom we devote a specific paragraph. Paul Schmidt, each figurine is annotated on the back with the soldier's name, this collection is held at the Museum of the Army in Paris and features soldiers of the National Guard of Strasbourg, among others.
Other artists also worked in a similar manner: Frédérik Schmidt (born in 1796). However, we can also mention Édouard Kratz (1803-1885), Schmidt's son (born in 1824), Théodore Carl (born in 1837)...

WURTZ-PEEZ COLLECTION (Würtz in 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 assembled significant documentation on Napoleon's armies. He began making his figurines as early as 1825 with the help of his son and later his father-in-law, Mr. Pees. The production continued under his son, who completed his "Napoleonic" collection during 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 precise and comprehensive representation of troops of 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 Strasbourg soldiers. Monsieur Wurtz's son, Frédéric Wurtz, likely supplemented the uniforms he did not personally observe from other documentary sources.
Upon the downfall of the Second Empire, Frédéric Wurtz refused to remain in Strasbourg under Prussian occupation and moved to Paris on Boulevard de Clichy, where he operated a pharmacy. 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 chief medical officer. They were exhibited there in 1938 and have remained since. Expert specialist Christian Blondieau considers Wurtz's style comparable to that of Nicollet and Kratz.