Hercules and Omphale

Pen and black and gray ink and gray wash; signed in gray ink, lower left: F. Boucher bears inscription on the back of the frame: Hercule aux pieds a Omphale /Dessin original de Boucher/Appartient à Charles Rouvin à Paris

127 by 95 mm; 5 by 3¾ in (oval)

Provenance:Probably Jean-Claude Gaspard de Sireul,his posthumous sale, Paris, Hotel de Bullion, 3 December 1781, lot 92: Un joli dessein de forme ovale à la blanc, plume, lavé à l'encre de la Chine sur papier, représentant Hercule & Omphale. Le fonds offre un riche palais. Hauteur 5 pouces, largeur 4 pouces , where purchased by Monsieur Barthélemy Loliée; Charles Rouvin (according to the inscription on the back of the frame); sale, Paris, Rossini, 8 December 2015, lot 88 (as Attributed to François Boucher)

We are most grateful to Alastair Laing, who, from an image, has confirmed the attribution to Francois Boucher and who has kindly informed us that this is, most probably, the drawing described under lot 92 in Monsieur Sireul’s posthumous sale (see Provenance).

Mr Laing, on stylistic grounds, suggests the drawing was executed relatively early in Boucher’s career and that it might have been a design for the lid of a silver box.