LITHUANIAN TARTARS FIRST EMPIRE: STRASBOURG SOLDIERS CARDBOARD CUT-OUT FIGURE painted in gouache by the Wurtz family, second third of the 19th century, circa 1815-1848. Item number: 31156-41

LITHUANIAN TARTARS FIRST EMPIRE: STRASBOURG SOLDIERS FIGURE MADE OF GOUACHE-COATED CARDBOARD by the WURTZ family, second third of the 19th century, circa 1815-1848. 31156-41

Two mounted 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 collection, 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 individual, who is nevertheless known among collectors and frequently mentioned in the provenance of historical objects of high quality. That's 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 memorabilia; both drew and published their drawings in the magazine 'La Giberne' before 1914.
After the war, he established himself as an antiquarian. By 1926, he lived at 108 rue de Ménilmontant (Paris 20th arrondissement), far from the usual antique 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 cavalry saber from the Consulate, his first beautiful sword; he called it his 'lucky charm' and always kept it.
The profession of an antiquarian allowed Saint-Aubin to see and possess these highly appreciated objects for a while. A fine connoisseur, 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 a manner that left an enduring memory among the enthusiasts who knew him.
Like most military object dealers of that time, Marcel Saint-Aubin did not have a store. He would receive visitors in his apartment, where few objects were displayed and only temporarily. Generally, like Paul Jean, he would fetch the items he wanted to sell from the next room and present them often without saying anything, with a slight smile, or if the item presented was truly exceptional, he would simply say in a soft voice, 'It's top-notch...'
In June 1940, during the occupation, he left for Guingamp. He returned to Paris and resettled by late 1951 in the house he had acquired at 16 rue Henri Pape, in the 13th arrondissement, once again, far from the antique districts.
His love for the items he parted with was evident even in the care he took in packaging them. Very skillful with his hands, he would perfectly protect even the most modest piece.
Marcel Saint-Aubin passed away at the age of 83, carrying with him the respect of all those who knew him, leaving behind the unanimously held memory of a man with great moral values."

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The Strasbourg soldiers are cardboard figurines, "flat" soldiers, cut out from rigid cardboard. In most cases, these soldiers are drawn and then printed in sheets to facilitate mass production.
Christian Blondieau in his book "Small soldiers of lead, tin, paper, cardboard... 1765-1965 - The collector's guide" Le Képi Rouge Editions Paris 1996, specifies about cardboard soldiers:
"[...] unlike paper soldiers intended more for children, often colored in a clumsy manner, the cardboard soldier is made for adults and guarantees great uniformological precision, which serves as the basis for our modern documentation...
Why are the little soldiers from Alsace referenced? 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 inhabitants of Strasbourg (a garrison town at the time) saw a large number of soldiers with colorful uniforms parading through their streets heading off to Germany.
This influx of troops, lasting over fifteen years, inspired some to capture these handsome soldiers in sketches.
Alsatian authors universally cite Benjamin Zix (1772-1811) as the pioneer of this genre. Predating Léopold Beyer, the German Geisler, or the Austrian Klein, the Alsatian Zix offers a very realistic view of the soldiers of that era, having been a combatant himself, often wandering battlefields armed with a pencil instead of a gun. He became an Officer Artist of the Army.
From the peace of 1815 to the war of 1914, Strasbourg artists across generations continued this urge to draw and paint [...]."
Under the First Empire, Strasbourg had around 30,000 inhabitants, with a permanent garrison of between 6,000 and 10,000 soldiers. The city also served as a transit point for numerous troops of the Revolution and the Grande Armée heading to campaigns across the Rhine.
Among all these artists from that period, the three most well-known are: Thiébaut Borerst (incorrectly spelled Boersch) (1782-1824), a flour miller who began drawing around 1800, and the nephew of the painter Benjamin Zix. His collection was dispersed in an auction in Angers on March 10, 1971, and his style is likely the most refined known. Eugène Nicollet (1802-1872) started painting his soldiers in 1817 (at 15 years old) and continued for 55 years. His collection is housed at the Museum of Compiègne, and his style is more naive. Wurtz, to whom we dedicate a specific paragraph. Paul Schmidt, whose each figure is annotated on the back with the soldier's name as "sketched," this collection is kept at the Museum of the Army in Paris and notably represents the soldiers of the National Guard of Strasbourg, among others.
Other artists also worked in a similar manner: Frédérik Schmidt (born in 1796). Additionally, we can mention Édouard Kratz (1803-1885), Schmidt's son (born in 1824), Théodore Carl (born in 1837)...

WURTZ-PEEZ (German spelling Würtz) COLLECTION:
Wurtz began documenting under the First Empire thanks to his friend J.P LÉvêque, a former surgeon of the Grande Armée who had gathered significant documentation on Napoleon's armies. He started making his figures as of 1825 with the help of his son and then Pees, his father-in-law. The production continued with his son, who completed his "Napoleonic" collection under the Second Republic (1850); some of the figures we are presenting have the date 1848 on the back of the cardboard. These figures are of very high quality. 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, "the most accurate and comprehensive representation of the troops of the First Empire." Each regiment is depicted in all ranks and uniform types in an exhaustive manner, which is rare in the representations of Strasbourg soldiers.
Frédéric Wurtz, the son of Mr. Wurtz, likely completed the uniforms he had not personally observed from other documentary sources. At the fall of the Second Empire, Frédéric Wurtz refused to remain in Strasbourg under Prussian occupation and moved to Paris, Boulevard de Clichy, where he ran a pharmacy. Following his passing 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 medical officer; they were displayed there in 1938 and have remained since.
The specialist expert Christian Blondieau compares Wurtz's style to that of Nicollet and Kratz.