Joseph Boze (Martigues 1745-1826 Paris)

The comtesse de Provence commissioned a portrait of herself from Boze in late 1785, for which his account books record a payment of 1,200 livres. In December 1785 he executed five replicas of the portrait, each costing 360 livres, which were presented to the comtesse's ladies-in-waiting, Mme de la Marlière, Mme Sigrais, Mme Filleul de Belleville, Mme Gallois de Gourbillon and Mme Patri. Further replicas were made the following year. Versions of the portrait survive today at the Louvre (inv. 25041) and the Museé des Beaux-Arts, Nancy (inv. 1009), and three more have appeared on the French art market in recent years. In condition and finish the present work compares very favourably to the other known versions and it appears to be the only one which is both signed and dated, which suggests that it may therefore be the prime version. A portrait of the sitter's sister, the comtesse d'Artois, was sold at Sotheby's, London, 14 April 2011.

We are grateful to Neil Jeffares for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.