?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 15,000 - $ 25,000
PAUL ÉMILE BERTHON (1872-1909) The Marionette.
Maquette for unidentified, possibly unpublished poster or advertisement. A charming image of a young woman amusing two children with a jaunty Punch-like marionette puppet. Mixed media with watercolor, graphite, color pencil, and metallic paint on heavy paper backed in linen. 533x400 mm; 21x15 3/4 inches. Signed and dated "Paul Berthon . 98 ." in upper right corner. Float-mounted to silk-covered matte in a handsome Art Nouveau frame measuring 29 1/2x23 1/2 inches. Other than a small design for a decorative vase, no painting by the great French poster and fine artist Berthon has come to market. This charming image featuring a young woman, likely a governess, amusing her delighted charges with a brightly colored marionette, was likely done for a department or toy store advertisement. The background contains a decorative pattern of shuttlecocks, a popular pastime at the turn of the century and further establishing the theme of play in the image.
