Eighteenth-century trade cards were the precursors of modern business cards and could also function as advertisements. Saint-Aubin made this design for an ironmonger in his neighborhood, employing the conceit of showing the shop as if its facade had been removed. A flirtatious encounter between a saleswoman and a male customer takes place amid a jumble of metal grates, light fixtures, and fireplace tools.
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Credit Line:Promised Gift of Stephen A. Geiger, in memory of his parents, Howard W. Geiger and Mildred K. Geiger, and in honor of his brother, Julian R. Geiger
Inscription: At top center, in reverse, “QUAY”, at upper right, in reverse, “A LA T.”, and at lower left, on the base of the counter, in reverse, “G D / S A / 1767”
Hippolyte Destailleur, his sale, Paris, May 26-27, 1893 (no.46 in lot 112); Hippolyte Destailleur, his sale, Paris, May 19-23, 1896 (lot 867); G. Mühlbacher; his sale Paris, May 15-18, 1899 (lot 248); Georges Dormeuil (French); by descent to his daughter, and then to her son;; Christie's, Paris, March 21, 2002 (part of lot 281); Artemis Fine Arts SA Luxembourg (Swiss)
Edmond de Goncourt L'art du dix-huitième siècle. 2 vols., 3rd edition. Paris, 1880–1882, cat. no. 24, vol.I, p.422.
Emile Dacier L'oeuvre gravé de Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, notice historique et catalogue raisonné. Paris, 1914, 126.
Emile Dacier, Edouard Girod de l'Ain Exposition des Saint-Aubin. Paris, 1925, cat. no. 45, fig. no. pl.VI, 50, ill.
Emile Dacier Gabriel de Saint-Aubin: Peintre, dessinateur et graveur (1724-1780). 2 vols., Paris and Brussels, 1929-1931, cat. no. 832, I, 51.
Victor I. Carlson, John W. Ittmann, David Becker, Minneapolis Institute of Arts Regency to Empire, French Printmaking 1715-1814. Ex. cat., Baltimore Museum of Art, Nov. 10, 1984-Jan. 6, 1985; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Feb. 6-Mar. 31, 1985; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Apr. 27-June 23, 1985. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 1984, 162.
Kim de Beaumont, Colin B. Bailey, Perrin Stein, Suzanne Folds McCullagh, Christophe Leribault, Pierre Rosenberg, Marie-Catherine Sahut Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, 1724-1780. Exh. cat. Frick Collection, New York, Oct. 30, 2007-Jan. 27, 2008, and at Musée du Louvre, Paris, Feb. 28-May 26, 2008. New York, 2007, cat. no. 51, 214-219, ill.
Perrin Stein Artists and Amateurs: Etching in 18th-Century France. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2013, cat. no. 40, 73, 77, 78, 191, ill.
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