Provoking Fidelity

Engraverengraved by Louis-Marin Bonnet (French, 1736–1793)

Artistafter Marc Antoine Parelle (French, active 1774)

Date1775

Mediumpastel manner engraving on cream laid paper with gold leaf

Dimensionsimage: 28.2 × 23 cm (11 1/16 × 9 1/16 in.)
sheet: 31.7 x 24.7 cm (12 1/2 x 9 3/4 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

MarkingsStamp in gray ink, verso: LN in diamond (Lught 1751)

Credit LineMrs. Kingsmill Marrs Collection

Terms

Object number1926.1659

Label TextThe Rococo fashion for ornately designed furniture and decorative objects provided the French government with income opportunities, including limits and taxes on the use of goldleaf. In order to circumvent goldleaf regulations, Bonnet concocted an elaborate lie. Creating these prints under the pseudonym L. Marin, Bonnet claimed Marin was British; therefore, any use of goldleaf was outside the jurisdiction of French authorities. This accounts for the English title and address for the gallery “F[rancis] Vivares” in the lower margin. Though Vivares was indeed a gallery in London, it never sold any of Bonnet’s prints.ProvenanceMrs. Kingsmill Marrs, Boston, MA

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