Kolbe & Fanning
Auction 159 6 Mar 2021
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Original Sketch for the 1791 Monetary Competition
Droz, Jean-Pierre. STUDY FOR AN ÉCU, PREPARED FOR THE MONETARY COMPETITION OF 1791. Unsigned sheet [31.5 by 19.5 cm] with carefully rendered sketch in pencil depicting a winged Genius inscribing the Constitution on a tablet, surrounded by symbols emblematic of liberty. Written in the upper-right corner of the sheet is: "Inscription / Nation, Loi, Roi. / Exergue / du Règne de la / Liberté année / 1791 / ou / Ire Législature / 2eme année de la Liberté / et 17eme du Règne de Louis XVI." Unsigned, but provenance established (see comments). Paper matted to 30.5 by 18.5 cm within a gilt wooden frame measuring 46 by 35 cm. Near fine. A wonderful sketch by this important coin engraver, made as part of the 1791 monetary competition (concours monétaire). Augustin Dupré was chosen as the next graveur général in that competition; Droz, who was Swiss by birth, had little support among the judges, having worked for the past few years for Matthew Boulton in England. This study was offered as lot 48 in the 1 mars 1982 Maison Platt (Paris) auction of Ensemble de monnaies, dessins et sculptures provenant de la Famille Droz, where they were purchased by Richard Margolis for FF3800.
Droz, Jean-Pierre. STUDY FOR AN ÉCU, PREPARED FOR THE MONETARY COMPETITION OF 1791. Unsigned sheet [31.5 by 19.5 cm] with carefully rendered sketch in pencil depicting a winged Genius inscribing the Constitution on a tablet, surrounded by symbols emblematic of liberty. Written in the upper-right corner of the sheet is: "Inscription / Nation, Loi, Roi. / Exergue / du Règne de la / Liberté année / 1791 / ou / Ire Législature / 2eme année de la Liberté / et 17eme du Règne de Louis XVI." Unsigned, but provenance established (see comments). Paper matted to 30.5 by 18.5 cm within a gilt wooden frame measuring 46 by 35 cm. Near fine. A wonderful sketch by this important coin engraver, made as part of the 1791 monetary competition (concours monétaire). Augustin Dupré was chosen as the next graveur général in that competition; Droz, who was Swiss by birth, had little support among the judges, having worked for the past few years for Matthew Boulton in England. This study was offered as lot 48 in the 1 mars 1982 Maison Platt (Paris) auction of Ensemble de monnaies, dessins et sculptures provenant de la Famille Droz, where they were purchased by Richard Margolis for FF3800.