Augustin PAJOU (Paris, 1730 - 1809) Marie-Louise-Albertine Martin at the age of fourteen, future Madame François-Nicolas Delaistre Terracotta bust Signed and dated 'Pajou / sculpt / Reg / Faciebat / 1777' on the back Height : 47 cm Resting on a grey veined white marble pedestal Total height: 58.5 cm Portrait of Marie-Louise-Albertine Martin at 14, future Madame François-Nicolas Delaistre, signed and dated, by A. Pajou H. 18.50 in. Provenance: Collection of Mr and Mrs François-Nicolas Delaistre (1746-1832) ; Then by descent ; Anonymous sale; Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Me J. Tilorier, 21 May 1928, no. 173 ; Collection Arthur Georges Veil-Picard (1854-1944); Confiscated from the latter by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg during the Nazi occupation of France on 29 October 1940 (under no. W-P.49 Kiste Nr WP9), transferred to the Jeu de Paume, the Louvre and then to Neuschwanstein; Repatriated to France on 17 November 1945 and returned to the family on 16 April 1946; Remained in the descendants of Arthur Georges Veil-Picard until the present day. Bibliography: Notice of a terracotta bust by Augustin Pajou (1780-1809) ″Portrait of Marie-Louise Albertine Martin″ signed and dated 1777, two miniatures: portraits of women, table-liseuse by Nicolas Petit, from the 18th century [4 nos] belonging to Mme X... - Sale : Galerie Georges Petit, 21 and 22 May 1928, no. 173 James Davis Drapper, Guilhem Scherf, Pajou Sculpteur du Roi (1730-1809), cat. exp. Paris, Musée du Louvre, 20 October 1997 -19 January 1998, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 26 February-24 May 1998, p. 386, reproduced p. 387, fig.235 and p. 391 Between 1770 and 1790, Pajou was at the height of his fame as a portrait painter. At the end of the 18th century, collectors were enthralled by the innocent charm of his children's portraits. The portrait of fourteen-year-old Marie-Louise-Albertine Martin, signed and dated by Pajou in 1777, is a perfect illustration and explanation of this craze. Mademoiselle Martin was the daughter of the king's varnisher, one of the Martin brothers, inventors of the famous "Martin varnish". Nine years later, the young girl married the sculptor François Delaistre (1746-1832), in the presence of Pajou. The bust of the young teenager is imbued with the grace and freshness of Pajou's most beautiful portraits of children. Here, the sculptor demonstrates his irreproachable mastery of the art of modelling clay with finesse and skill. Pajou concentrated on rendering the tender, ingenuous look in the young girl's eyes. As usual, he emphasised the contrast between the straight shoulders and the head turned to the right, giving life and naturalness to his portrait. Pajou also took care to treat the child's hair, which was pulled back like a mass, without describing each strand too much, apart from a few young shoots that escaped charmingly and delicately over the forehead. This bust is one of a series of "friendship" portraits by the sculptor at the Académie. In addition to the eminently fraternal ties that existed between Pajou, Marie-Louise's father, the King's varnisher, and the sculptor Delaistre, who was to become her husband, this gentle portrait reveals the artist's affection and tenderness for his model. Augustin PAJOU (Paris, 1730 - 1809)