François-Philippe Charpentier (1734-1817) The Culbute. 1766. Etching, aquatint and wash after Fragonard. 419 x 297. I.F.F. 37. Printed in sepia. Beautiful and fresh proof on ivory laid paper. Margins of 2-3 mm. Watermark: name of Jesus in an oval. Ex-coll. A. Beurdeley (Lugt 421). Very ingenious in the mechanical part of his art," says Huber, "he claimed to have invented the wash engraving by a new process more expeditious than the first one, entered in this subject in dispute with the Swede Floding and won it over his rival by a judgment of the Academy. This triumph earned him a place in the Louvre and a pension from the King. He used this process to reproduce the brightly washed sepias of Fragonard and no one better than him was able to render the very appearance of these drawings. La Culbute, after this master, is an excellent specimen in this respect. (Portalis and Beraldi). Charpentier, named "mechanic of the King", taught his technique to the abbot of Saint-Non and sold it to the count of Caylus.