Charles-Melchior Descourtis (after Nicolas Antoine Taunay)
French printmaker, 1753-1820 (French painter, 1755-1830)
Noce de Vilage (Village Wedding)
1785
Color-printed etching and engraving on laid paper, state two of three
12 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (31.115 x 23.495 centimeters)
Purchase: SOTA Print Fund, 1994.
1994.005.002

Noce de Vilage was made by the French printmaker Charles-Melchior Descourtis, who was known for his wash-manner work, a process where transparent layers of color were superimposed over each other to create subtle shades that resembled gouache or watercolor wash drawings. Here the effect was achieved using five etched and engraved copper plates, each carrying a different color ink. The print was based on a gouache drawing by the French painter Nicholas-Antoine Taunay. Genre scenes such as this one were enthusiastically collected in the late eighteenth century, and this print was particularly well received, prompting Decourtis to collaborate with Taunay on three more.