Playing Soldier

ca. 1743

Philippe Mercier English, 1689-1760

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Title Playing Soldier

Artwork Date ca. 1743

Artist Philippe Mercier

Life Dates 1689-1760

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. English

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 49 1/2 × 41 1/4 inches (125.7 × 104.8 cm) Framed: 59 1/4 × 50 × 3 1/2 inches (150.5 × 127 × 8.9 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Painting

Credit Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Edgar B. Whitcomb

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 50.253

Markings

Signed Signed, upper left, on tree trunk: Ph. Mercier f.

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

collection Miss Mary Mackenzie. (Koester Gallery, London, England). 1949-1950, (Dr. Siegfried Aram)

1950-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA) with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Edgar B. Whitcomb

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

York Courant. July 19, 1743.

Wescher, P. "Philippe Mercier and the French Artists in London," Art Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 3 (1951): pp. 178-94, (repr.) [as Group Portrait].

Grigaut, P. "Year End Report." Bulletin of the DIA 30, nos. 3 and 4 (1950-51): pp. 70-72, (repr.).

Richardson, E. P. Catalogue of the Whitcomb Gifts. Detroit, 1954, pp. 44-45, (repr.).

Carolina Tercentenary Exhibition. Exh. cat., North Carolina Museum of Art. Raleigh, 1963, no. 82.

Rosenberg, P. The Age of Louis XV. Exh. cat., Toledo Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, National Gallery of Canada. Toledo, Chicago, Ottowa, 1975-1976, no. 69, p. 57, pl. 65 [as L'education du chien (Training the Dog) 1744].

Ingemells, J. & R. Raines, "A Catalogue of the Paintings, Drawings and Etchings of Philippe Mercier," Walpole Society, vol. 46. 1978, pp. 9, 56, no. 238, (repr.) pl. 10b [as Three Children Setting a Dog Sentinel- children designated as three elder children of Frederick Prince of Wales].

The New Child: The Origins of Modern Childhood in English Art: 1730-1830. Exh. cat., University Art Museum and Pacific Film, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Joslyn Art Museum. Berkeley, Memphis, Omaha, 1995-1996, pp. 77, 203, pl. 49.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Philippe Mercier, Playing Soldier, ca. 1743, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Edgar B. Whitcomb, 50.253.