Jean-Pierre Norblin de la Gourdaine (1745-1830)

Jean-Pierre NORBLIN DE LA GOURDAINE (French/Polish 1745-1830)
"Head in Profile Left of a Man Wearing a Turban Adorned with Pearls "
"Profil à gauche d'un personnage au vaste turban traversé par des passementeries garnies de perles"
"Głowa męska w białym zawoju z perłami"
Engraving
Oval 3.1 cm x 2.7 cm 

A miniature engraving within oval with the head of a man in profile, left, wearing a bejewelled turban, on a dark ground; a fine impression of the state with additional etching and embroidery to the costume.

The painter and print-maker Jean-Pierre Norblin de la Gourdaine was born at Misy-sur-Yonne in France, trained Paris, travelled from 1770, and in 1774 settled in Poland, initially working for Prince Adam Czartoryski (the cousin of the King), and later as an independent artist and a leading figure in the Polish school. He returned to France in 1804, but maintained links with Poland. Sylistically he was a follower of Watteau and Rembandt. This print in particular shows the influence of Rembandt, who produced a number of similar images.

Catalogue Raisonné:
Hillemacher 62; Cologne 1989, cat. no. 84 (as 1779); Rastawiecki 1886 s. 207 poz. 5; Smolik 1934 s. 39 poz. 11

For similar impressions see Minneapolis Institute of Art 2010.67.37 (Gift of John E. Andrus III); Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie, FOL-DC-23 (A) and National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa) Warsaw, 457064

Literature
See No 62 on Page 36 of Frederic Hillemacher "Catalogue des estampes qui composent l'oeuvre de Jean-Pierre Norblin", Lacrampe et Fertiaux, Paris, 1848