Attributed to Jean-Honoré FRAGONARD (Grasse 1732-Paris 1806). Study of a woman and dog, fragment. Brown wash over black pencil lines. (Small tears at bottom centre, small stains, drawing doubled). Height 20 cm; Width: 28 cm. Annotated on verso on the mount "TJ 33", old inventory label no. 41. Bibliography: A. Ananoff, l'œuvre dessiné de Jean-Honoré Fragonard 1732-1806, Paris, F. de Nobele, 1968, tome III, n° 1281, rep. Provenance: probably sale of Baron van Balle, 9 April 1781, part of lot 140 where a very similar subject is described: "Two bistre drawings on white paper, one representing two young girls lying next to a young man, and the other among the base of an antique monument, two children playing with a dog & surprised by a woman. These two beautiful drawings are of a pleasant and picturesque composition. Height 16 inches. Width 20 inches, mounted under glass. Our drawing and the following one are from the same cut-out sheet. We find the continuity of the two drawings at the foot of the column and the woman's dress. The description in Baron van Balle's sale seems to correspond well with our subject, "among the base of an ancient monument, two children playing with a dog & surprised by a woman". In this drawing we have the woman next to an antique base who surprises the two children playing with a dog in the next drawing. We would like to thank Mme Dupuy Vachey for kindly providing us with the provenance of the drawing from the Baron van Balle sale. We would also like to thank Mrs Eunice Williams who kindly confirmed the authenticity of this drawing based on a photograph. Expert : Cabinet de BAYSER