Joachim Martin Falbe (1709 Berlin - 1782 ibid.) Oval portrait of the Berlin merchant and silk manufacturer Jean (Johannes) Platzmann This representative portrait was painted around 1755 and shows him in half-profile in the elegant fashion of the time with a curly wig, white neck tie, lace jabot and brown velvet jacket with golden buttons against a landscape background. The sitter can be identified by an old label on the reverse of the original stretcher: "Jean Platzmann né à (/) Langenberg dans le duché de Berg (/) le 23 aout 1720 mort à Berlin (/) le 22 Janv: 1770 (/) Époux de Marie Magdal: Lautier (/) Père de Henry Charles P:-". However, a small plaque on the frame (probably from around 1900) with the engraved inscription "1683 Antoine Pesne 1757 (/) J. Platzmann Lautier (/) Court jeweller to Frederick the Great". Instead of Antoine Pesne himself, the portrait was actually painted by his most important former pupil and collaborator Joachim Martin Falbe, as evidenced by the style with its strong yet delicate and subtly nuanced colouring. In his essay "Joachim Martin Falbe", published in 1989, Ekhart Berckenhagen lists a portrait under no. 46, which is the present painting: "Jean Platzmann (1720-1770, merchant and silk manufacturer owner, hip portrait n. r. in front of a landscape, c. 1755, oil. in front of a landscape, c. 1755, oil/L oval 77.5 x 65.5, privately owned, Wiesbaden (1953 in the Berlin art trade)". Falbe had undergone thorough artistic training with Pesne in Berlin from 1733, becoming his master pupil and remaining with him for a total of 15 years. Through Pesne's mediation, Falbe was offered a position at the court of Prince August Ludwig von Anhalt-Köthen, who appointed him court painter on his departure in 1739. Back in Prussia, he was honoured with the title of royal court painter in the same year. Pesne and Falbe, who became an honorary member of the Berlin Royal Prussian Academy of Arts in 1756, held each other in such high esteem that Pesne entrusted him with the completion of his unfinished paintings on his deathbed in 1757. Oil on canvas, mounted; adhesive label with details of the sitter on the verso. 77.5 cm x 65 cm, in oval. Frame. Enclosed: Expertise by Prof. Dr Helmut Börsch-Supan, Berlin. Literature: Ekhart Berckenhagen: "Joachim Martin Falbe", in "Zeitschrift des Deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft", vol. 43, no. 1, 1989, pp. 94-107, Wvz.-Nr. 46. Jean (Johannes) Platzmann (1720 - 1770) married Marie Madeleine (Magdaleine) Lautier (1731 - 1790), daughter of the Berlin court jeweller Pierre Lautier, in 1752 and founded a silk ribbon manufactory in the same year. Provenance: Christie's auction, London, 23 April 2007, lot 98 (as "Circle of Antoine Pesne" and portrait of "Jean Platzmann-Lautier"). Oil on canvas, relined. Old label with information about the sitter on the reverse. Accompanied by an expertise from Professor Dr Helmut Börsch-Supan, Berlin.