284 - THE BARBENTANE FAMILY - THOMAS DUCHÉ 1837–?

THE BARBENTANE FAMILY - THOMAS DUCHÉ 1837–? Family album of Count Henri Antoine Honoré Roger de Robin de Barbentane (1847–1931), featuring portraits of his family and friends taken at the Château de Saint-Jean-le-Priche, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, ca. 1855–1860. Portraits of aristocrats; clergy; military personnel; and staff (the De Barbentane, Pajol, Atthalin, and De Coulombiers families), men wearing hats and a washerwoman in front of the Neptune Basin at the Château de Baudry in Cerelles, Mortier Castle in Flavigny (Monnaie), a study of a rowboat, reflections of the Château de Saint-Jean-le-Priche in the pond, the family posing in a studio set up in front of the castle, women reading outdoors, a child whipping his brothers, young men fighting, a carriage in front of the château, traditional costumes and headdresses, including a woman wearing a “tchoque,” children in a miniature carriage, a man sounding a horn in front of a carriage in Baudry (Vendenesse-lès-Charolles), a couple and their sleeping bulldog. Photographs. Album containing 159 albumen prints, including 127 in visiting-card format, some with captions in ink beneath the images; the count’s crown and the initials “A.R.” in gold lettering on the front cover. Images: 8.5 x 5.3 cm to 19.2 x 25.3 cm; album: 30 x 49 cm This exceptional album begins with about twenty close-up portraits. The subjects display particularly beautiful and expressive faces. Similarly, the numerous visiting-card-sized portraits that follow are not static representations but leave room for humor and poetry. These were taken by Thomas Duché, a photographer active in Mâcon from the mid-1850s to the late 1860s. The album also includes a few outdoor genre scenes, notably a lively view in the park of the Château de Baudry and a view of a man sounding a horn in front of a carriage. Some of the group portraits, of rare quality, are reminiscent of those taken by Count Olympe Aguado during the same period.