(French, 1748-1825)

A pair: Monsieur Charles Pécoul, in a russet coat, 36-3/4 x 28-1/2 in. (93 x 72.5 cm.);  37 x 28-1/4 in. (93.5 x 73 cm.), both shown seated, three quarter length, oil on canvas; matching, likely original Empire gilt wood and composition frames, 45-5/8 x 37-1/2 x 4 in.

Provenance: Presumed Pierre  and Emile Sériziat; Presumed Sostene Moreau (1877-1941), Paris; his sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 28 February 1912, lots 4 and 5; George Joseph Demotte (1877-1923), Paris; Ernest May (1845-1925), Paris; Jacques Léon Stern (1882-1949), Paris and New York; his sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 3 November 1950, lots 51 and 52, as 'Jacques-Louis David'; Collection Baron and Baroness Cassel (née van Doorn); their sale, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 9 March 1954, lots 27 and 28, as 'Jacques-Louis David'; Collection of David Bahlman and Howard Klosterman

Literature:  A. Schnapper, et. al, Jacques-Louis David 1748-1825, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1989, p.157, No. 64.

Note: Marguerite-Charlotte Pecoul was the wife of Jacques-Louis David, and the daughter of Charles-Pierre Pecoul's first wife, Marie-Louise L'Alouette. It is thought that David painted his parents-in-law on the occasion of his second marriage to Geneviève Jacqueline Potain. This studio pair was painted circa 1784 after the originals, also executed in 1784 and are held by the Louvre (acquired in 1844). Laure Emilie Pecoul married Pierre Serizat whose portraits were painted by David in 1795. It is presumed that this studio pair were in their possession.

lined, crackle, retouch, conserved in 2022 with treatment reports and images by Sandra Kelberlau (accompanied by resume); frames re gilt, with abrasions