Francois Theodore Rochard
Portrait miniature of the artist’s daughter, Eugenie Rochard (b. 1814), as Psyche, mid 19th century
Watercolour on ivory
Oval, 76mm (3in) high
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com Set into a gold boîte-à-miniatur by Claude-Pierre Pottier (fl. 1778-1806), marked, Paris 1789 with the charge marks of Jean-Francois Kalendrin...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
Set into a gold boîte-à-miniatur by Claude-Pierre Pottier (fl. 1778-1806), marked, Paris 1789 with the charge marks of Jean-Francois Kalendrin (1789-1792), the base set with a further portrait miniature of of Mezzetin , after Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), attributed to Simon Jacques Rochard.This portrait of the artist’s daughter is a celebration of both the painter’s talent and the eleventh birthday of his first child. Although it has been established that Rochard had a daughter (who married an English army officer), her name has not been known outside his descendants until now. Shown portrayed as Pysche, wearing delicate butterfly wings, her father has painted her during fleeting childhood. The only child from his first, apparently unhappy marriage to Henriette Petitjean, Rochard married again at the age of eighty.
By 1825, the date of this portrait, Rochard was established in London with a glittering array of royal and aristocratic clients. Trained in Paris, Rochard worked under, among others, Jean Baptiste Augustin, a French society miniaturist of formidable talent. In 1815, Rochard escaped conscription by going to Brussels, where he made introductions to the court via Baron Falk, minister of foreign affairs. It was here, on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, that he sketched a portrait of the Duke of Wellington at the request of the King of Spain. This commission led directly to other work, with the artist recording in miniature many of Wellington’s surrounding officers and the cream of society gathered in Brussels at that momentous time. After this, it was requested that he travel to Spa to paint a portrait of William, Duke of Orange, for his bride.Rochard moved to London in 1816 to continue his career, partly based on introductions to London society via Lady Bathurst, sister of the Duke of Richmond whom he had also portrayed at Waterloo. From his London base, Rochard exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, the Society of British Artists and the New Watercolour Society. He was also employed by the royal family and miniatures of Princess Charlotte of Wales are in the collection of the Holburne Museum, Bath. His clientele were not solely British, and in 1834 he twice painted the queen of Portugal, and in 1839, when the tsar of Russia visited England, he painted six miniatures of the tsarevich for presentation snuff-boxes.
His sitters were portrayed in fresh, rapid brushstrokes in his inimitable mix of French and English styles.
Rochard left England in 1846 and settled in Brussels. His financial success is evident in the catalogue he printed of his collection of old master paintings (Catalogue raisonné des tableaux écoles italienne, flamande et hollandaise de la collection d'un artiste, 1847). This security, however, was not to last, as he was a victim of the failure of Moore’s bank in which he had invested the bulk of his wealth.
This portrait of his only daughter is one of few personal portraits painted by Rochard. Although there is no documentary evidence relating to its provenance, it can be assumed that such a portrait would have remained within the family, the identity of the sitter hidden underneath the portrait until its recent removal for cleaning.
Set into a gold boîte-à-miniatur by Claude-Pierre Pottier (fl. 1778-1806), marked, Paris 1789 with the charge marks of Jean-Francois Kalendrin (1789-1792), the base set with a further portrait miniature of of Mezzetin , after Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), attributed to Simon Jacques Rochard.This portrait of the artist’s daughter is a celebration of both the painter’s talent and the eleventh birthday of his first child. Although it has been established that Rochard had a daughter (who married an English army officer), her name has not been known outside his descendants until now. Shown portrayed as Pysche, wearing delicate butterfly wings, her father has painted her during fleeting childhood. The only child from his first, apparently unhappy marriage to Henriette Petitjean, Rochard married again at the age of eighty.
By 1825, the date of this portrait, Rochard was established in London with a glittering array of royal and aristocratic clients. Trained in Paris, Rochard worked under, among others, Jean Baptiste Augustin, a French society miniaturist of formidable talent. In 1815, Rochard escaped conscription by going to Brussels, where he made introductions to the court via Baron Falk, minister of foreign affairs. It was here, on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, that he sketched a portrait of the Duke of Wellington at the request of the King of Spain. This commission led directly to other work, with the artist recording in miniature many of Wellington’s surrounding officers and the cream of society gathered in Brussels at that momentous time. After this, it was requested that he travel to Spa to paint a portrait of William, Duke of Orange, for his bride.Rochard moved to London in 1816 to continue his career, partly based on introductions to London society via Lady Bathurst, sister of the Duke of Richmond whom he had also portrayed at Waterloo. From his London base, Rochard exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, the Society of British Artists and the New Watercolour Society. He was also employed by the royal family and miniatures of Princess Charlotte of Wales are in the collection of the Holburne Museum, Bath. His clientele were not solely British, and in 1834 he twice painted the queen of Portugal, and in 1839, when the tsar of Russia visited England, he painted six miniatures of the tsarevich for presentation snuff-boxes.
His sitters were portrayed in fresh, rapid brushstrokes in his inimitable mix of French and English styles.
Rochard left England in 1846 and settled in Brussels. His financial success is evident in the catalogue he printed of his collection of old master paintings (Catalogue raisonné des tableaux écoles italienne, flamande et hollandaise de la collection d'un artiste, 1847). This security, however, was not to last, as he was a victim of the failure of Moore’s bank in which he had invested the bulk of his wealth.
This portrait of his only daughter is one of few personal portraits painted by Rochard. Although there is no documentary evidence relating to its provenance, it can be assumed that such a portrait would have remained within the family, the identity of the sitter hidden underneath the portrait until its recent removal for cleaning.
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