NAUDET, Caroline. ~ La petite Bouche. Paris: Alexandre Tessier, successeur de Mme Veuve Chereau, rue St Jacques, no. 10, [1823].
Etched plate (222 × 280 mm, sheet size 275 × 355 mm), hand-coloured, signed in the plate ‘Caroline Naudet’. Deckled edge at lower margin. Traces of paper mounting at upper corners of verso, expertly conserved.
Caroline Naudet (1775-1839), one of the very few female caricaturists of her era, she was the daughter of the caricaturist Thomas-Charles Naudet. She is known as the artist of some 25 separate satirical prints c. 1817-1823. The plate depicts an older well-dressed lady sitting for an urbane looking artist. The caption reads:
‘Une dame de qualite faisant faire son portrait s'efforcait de se retrecir la bouche l'artiste s'en appercut et lui dit pour peu que madame le veuille je n'en ferait pas du tout’ (A lady of quality having her portrait done was trying to narrow her mouth. The artist noticed this and said to her, if Madam would like it, I won’t paint it at all). Benezit III, 347.