A Lady Walking with a King Charles Spaniel

Three paintings by Jean-Frederic Schall (see also acc. nos 3617 and 3622). This example was collected by Alice de Rothschild. Schall painted a great many variations of the theme of a lady walking a dog, mainly in the late 1780s. It is doubtful if they were taken from identifiable models. The roses held by the lady suggest she may have been visited by a lover.

Schall trained in his native Strasbourg and, from 1772, at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in Paris, although he never became a member of the Académie. He produced erotic paintings of lovers and pastoral scenes for private patrons in France, Germany and England in a style based on earlier Rococo painters. During the French Revolution, his works became more political and moral. He made several copies of the same composition and his works were also made popular through engravings, particularly in the early 19th century. A painting with a similar composition was in the collection of Jacques Doucet, Paris, in 1927 (see André Girodie, "Jean-Frédéric Schall", Kahn, 1927, pl. XXVI).

Schall's works became fashionable with late 19th-century collectors, particularly after the sale of Prince Demidoff's collection in 1870, which included many paintings by the artist. It seems several members of the Rothschild family enjoyed Schall's small studies. Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, Alice's brother, also purchased two paintings by Schall of dancers (acc. no. 3617 and 3622). There are also a collection of Schall's paintings of dancers at Mentmore, another Rothschild property located not far from Waddesdon.

Phillippa Plock, 2014