Jun 03, 2021 - Sale 2571

Sale 2571 - Lot 217

Price Realized: $ 875
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
(DEATH OF WOLFE.) Sebastian Leclerc II, after. Mort du Brave Lieutenant Volf. Hand-colored historical mezzotint engraved by Joseph A. Clarot. 13 3/4 x 13 3/4 inches sheet size, trimmed to platemark. Np, last quarter 18th-century
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Additional Details

A pseudo-re-imagining of Benjamin West's famous 1770 painting, "The Death of General Wolfe," which depicts a pivotal event of the French and Indian War. The composition is quite different from West's, but the prone figure of Wolfe cradled by his compatriots is certainly familiar. However, the sub-caption reading "du Regiment des Licaniens à l'attaque du Closter Boisig dans la campagne de 1778. 1. Le Prince de Ligne, Field Marechal Lieutenant. 2. le Prince Charles, Son Fils et Son Adjudant Lieutenant au Corps du Genie" would seem to place the figures of this scene more accurately within the context of the 1778 War of Bavarian Succession.

The print is unusually rare, we find no copies in OCLC, and none at auction since an 18 October 1912 Puttick & Simpson sale, "Death of Wolfe, by J. Clarot, mezzotint" for £1, 8s.