GENERAL MARQUIS de LAYAYETTE in AMERICA

France: Pierre Charles Cior, 1795. Original. Round enameled tortoise-shell box. Near Fine. Pierre Charles Cior. Three-quarter's view gouache portrait of Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), in the dark blue uniform with gold epaulettes of a Major-General of the American Continental Army during the 1780's; his image in flanked to his right by a tiny row of soldiers bearing weapons and a flag. This portrait miniature on ivory has been inserted into the lid of a round box made of toirtoise-shell with gold mounting and glass dome; (unframed image: 2.8" x 2.8" / 7.2 x 7.2 cm; framed: 3.2" x 3.2" / 8.1 x 8.1 cm); signed by Pierre Charles Cior, the French miniaturist, as "P. Cior" and dated "an 3e" or the 3rd year of the French Revolution, that is, 1795/96. This gouache portrait miniature on ivory is of the dashing young Marquis de Lafayette in the impressive dark blue uniform of a Major-General of the American Continental Army under the command of George Washington. One can see a faint line of soldiers to his right. It may have been based on a certain painting (possibly lost today), or an engraving--both from the 1780's. It was executed by the French miniaturist Pierre Charles Cior (1769-ca.1840) during the third year of the French revolution, i.e., 1795 or 1796. For comparables, see the oil on canvas executed by Joseph Boze in 1790; the engraving by François Séraphin Delpech in the National Portrait Gallery; and the oil signed and dated "G. Bevalet, 1788" sold by Skinner Auctions, June 8, 2008. The Marquis de Lafayette defied his government and left France at the age of 19 in 1777, hoping to serve courageously as a volunteer in the American war for independence from Great Britain. Already a skillful diplomat, Lafayette hoped for military command. In cooperation with Benjamin Franklin, Lafayette had already exercized important influence on the French king by trying to convince him of the need to increase France's financial and military commitment to the American cause. Lafayette was especially fortunate in his new relationship with George Washington, who took him under his wing, treated him like a son, and enabled the Marquis to serve honorably and with high rank in the Continental Army. (Subsequently, the Marquis named his own son "Georges Washington" in fond remembrance.) Lafayette was also a close friend of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. During the Marquis' service in the Continental Army, he spent most of December 1777 and January 1778 in winter quarters at Valley Forge with Washington and his ragged troops. The wealthy Frenchman spent significant sums from his own fortune to help the beleaguered and frostbitten men. He also supported Washington when rebellious soldiers during the "Conway Cabal" tried to compel their general to give up command. During his first action at Brandywine on September 11, 1777, Lafayette displayed extreme courage under fire as he led his men in an orderly retreat. During the skirmish, he was severely wounded in the calf, yet managed to survive. Thereafter, he was given command of a division of men. Lafayette also fought in the battles of Glouchester, Barren Hill, Rhode Island, Monmoth, Green Spring; and at the siege of Yorktown, where he blocked British troops led by General Charles Cornwallis and contributed to this major surrender of British forces. After the war with Britian had been won in America by the combined arms of Americans and their French allies, Lafayette returned to France, where he risked his life in inspired but vain efforts to bring democracy to his land. He sought a government of balance between competing interests and moderation that would support democratic values. At the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1787, when he was just 29, Lafayette was appointed to the Assembly of Notables. He lobbied for the convocation of the Estates General and became a deputy for the Second Estate. Two years later, he joined the newly formed National Assembly and was elected as its vice president. An empassioned advocate of individual rights, Lafayette took a lead role in the creation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. On July 15th, immediately after the fall of the Bastille prison, the electors chose Lafayette to be commander-in-chief of the National Guard and military head of the new government. Though his views were liberal, and he sought a peaceful transition, Lafayette's important roles put him in a dangerous position between the royals, democrats, and radical revolutionaries. In October 1789, Lafayette led his troops at Versailles to protect the king and his family from a possible mob attack; then he accompanied the Royals back to Paris. In February 1791, Lafayette and his National Guard intervened in a stand off between armed nobles and a Parisian mob--later dubbed "the Day of Daggers." Discouraged by the rising violence, Lafayette tried to resign but was dissuaded from doing so. In July 1791, Lafayette felt compelled to order the National Guard to open fire on a dangerous mob at the Champ de Mars, a massacre that killed more than 50 rioters. This bloody incident shattered whatever respect Lafayette still enjoyed among the radical Jacobins and sans culottes. By mid-1792, Lafayette was serving in the regular French military but also urged the government to take strong action against radical political clubs.  As the revolution became more and more violent, Lafayette planned to use his troops to protect the royal family and to push for a limited monarchy. One of his last efforts was an unsuccessful attempt to rally troops to march on Paris after the dramatic royal journee of August 10th, 1792. His attempted intervention, however, prompted the radical government to declare him a traitor. Believing that the revolution was lost, Lafayette fled French territory to escape the Terror and surrendered himself to the Prussians and Austrians. The latter held him in detention until 1797. At the time this retrospective portrait was executed In 1795, Lafayette was being held as a prisoner of war in the fortress city of Olomouc (Olmütz) in Moravia (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; today, the Czech Republic). Yet clearly, during this perilous time, the great Republican "Hero of the Two Worlds" [Le Héros des Deux Mondes] remained on the mind of many. One aspect of this miniature that is noteworthy is that whoever owned or commissioned this exquisite portrait did so to remember their incarcerated French hero in his high-ranking AMERICAN and brave military capacity. Might it have been a prominent American then living abroad (in Paris)? Compare the aquatint profile of Lafayette in 1795 executed by Edme Quenedey (1756-1830) and engraved by Ed. Gosselin. After Lafayette's imprisonment for active participation in freedom movements, he served in the post-Napoleonic national government of France and the July Reolution of 1830. During the post-revolutionary era in France, Lafayette returned triumphantly to the United States in 1824 for the 50th anniversary and celebration of the American Revolution. Due to his impressive activities, Lafayette had become an American and international hero as well as household name. His return was celebrated in communities throughout the United States. More than 30 towns were named in his honor, not counting numerous streets, squares, and parks also memorializing him in nearly every city in America. This painting is an absolute RARITY. It is not only a hitherto unknown portrait of this famous Frenchman as he appeared in impressive uniform during the American revolution, but also the earliest known work of highly skilled Parisisan miniaturist Pierre Charles Cior. Clearly SIGNED and dated in red : "P. Cior / an 3e" [3rd year of the French Revolution, i.e., 1795/96]. Pierre Charles Cior (1769 Paris -- ca.1840) was a pupil of Bazil. At the Salon of 1796, he exhibited a frame containing several miniatures, and, in 1799, two other miniatures. It was thirty-two years later in 1831 that Cior again participated at the Salon, making his final reappearance in 1838. The artist travelled throughout his career. The details of his itineraries are unknown, yet it is known that he was appointed a Painter in Miniature to the King of Spain, and that he also worked quite a lot at the Russian Court, where, among others, he did the portraits of the Emperor Paul I of Russia and his wife, of Prince Kourakin and Princess Poniatowska. He also painted Prince Eszterhazy, the Queen of Holland, the Duke of Luxemburg, Louis XVIII and numerous other prominent personalities. (See Nathalie Lemoine-Bouchard and Schidlof for more information.) The portrait has not been removed by us from beneath its glass. There is some evidence of tarnishing and oxidization to the inner rim of the thin strip of gilded brass surrounding the glass--not affecting the painting. Provenance: Private collection, Paris (as portrait of an unknown general); a prominent European dealer. (Inventory #: 1899)