François Louis Couché (1782–1849), Napoleonic Battle, French Army, Napoleon, Empire

Francois Louis Couché (1782–1849)
Design with cartouche for "Trophies of the French Armies" "
Ink drawing enhanced with white gouache
Dimensions: 13 x 18.5 cm
Condition: good condition, a slight central crease, small spots. 
Unsigned but consistent with his style; see the example engraving.

FRANÇOIS-LOUIS COUCHÉ, who signed as Couché fils, a student of Louis Lafitte in drawing and of his father in engraving, was born in Paris in 1782. He engraved much more than his father, but his major works—*Batailles de l’Empire* (based on Swebach and Duplessi-Bertaux), plates for *Histoire de Napoléon* by Norvins (*Trophées des Armées Françaises*), Voyage en Egypte, Portraits de Généraux, etc., etc., are all from after 1800 and therefore fall outside the scope of this discussion.
We should, however, mention a fairly successful, though somewhat confused, reduced reproduction of the Coronation of Voltaire at the Théâtre-Français, after Moreau and Gaucher, and the Transfer of Voltaire’s Ashes to the Panthéon, which serves as its counterpart; 60 plates from Monuments of Paris, after Civeton, 120 rather fine pieces for Dulaure’s Sketches of the Revolution, drawn and etched by Couché fils and finished by Bovinet and Lejeune, and a rather nice portrait of J.-J. Rousseau, after Duchesne.