PHILIPPE MERCIER (Berlin 1689-1760 London) The Fool. Circa 1735-40. Oil on canvas. 77.5 × 65 cm. Provenance: - Whitehill Collection, Edinburgh. - Collection Capt. A. B. Wardlaw-Ramsay. - Auction Christie, 12.12.1924, lot 134 (as Watteau). - Art dealer or Leggatt Collection, London. - Auction Christie's, London, 15.11.1991, lot 38. - Auction Bonhams, London, 28.10.1993, lot 165. - Auction Lempertz, Cologne, 15 May 1999, lot 1096. - Auction Grisebach, Berlin, 2 June 2016, lot 310 (verso with label). - European private collection. Literature: J. Ingamells and R. Raines: A Catalogue of the Paintings and Drawings and Etchings of Philip Mercier, Walpole Society, XLVI, 1978, no. 172. A French Huguenot, Mercier was born and educated in Berlin before moving to London around 1716. He established himself as a painter of conversation pieces and portraits at the Hanoverian court and around 1737-39 turned to the execution of "fantasy pictures", mainly of individual figures, which can be traced back to Jean-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779). From 1739-51 he settled in York, where he produced portraits of aristocratic society in Yorkshire and created fantasy pictures. As an engraver and probably also a copyist of works by Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), he made a significant contribution to the introduction of French taste into English culture. We would like to thank Alastair Laing for his scientific support in cataloguing this painting. This object marked with * (asterisk) is fully subject to VAT, i.e. VAT will be charged on the hammer price plus buyer's premium. Buyers who present a legally stamped export declaration will be reimbursed the VAT.