Attributed to Jules Desfossé

Exhibited by Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz

Material Wallpaper wood-block printed

Dimensions 185 x L 235 cm

Place of Creation Paris

Status Vetted

About the Work

Thomas Couture depicts himself as the Pierrot with his pupil the German painter Feuerbach as the recumbent figure on the left, in the company of the courtesan Alice Ozy during a private dinner at the famous Paris restaurant La Maison d’Or.

Designed as a “tableau”, Le Souper de Pierrot was presented on the stand of Jules Desfossé at the Paris 1855 Exposition Universelle, winning the First Class Medal - competing with “la grande peinture”.

This wallpaper decor is the only one known to be signed by the manufacture and the artist (bottom left-hand corner).

Also a technical feat, it was the first time that a design was wood-block printed on 1 single large sheet of paper (1,85m x2,35m).

Only 1 limited edition was produced at the time ca. 1855, which makes it rare and highly sought after by collectors.

Le Souper de Pierrot is considered one of the most important decors created under the Second Empire. For this oeuvre, Jules Desfossé was awarded the Légion d’Honneur.

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Provenance

Private Collection

Literature

L’art en France sous le Second Empire, by Nouvel-Kammerer, Odile, published by Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, 1979.

Papiers Peints- I'Histoire des Motifs XVIII-XIX Siècles, by Bernard Jacqué, published by Edition Vial, France, 2010.

Le Monde du Papier Peint, by Teynac, Nolot, Vivien, published by Berger Levrault, Paris, 1981.

Art et Artistes du Papier Peint en France, by Véronique de Bruignac de la Hougue, published by Gourcuff Gradenigo, Paris, 2007.