Célestin Allard-cambray (19th C.) - Original Drawing For Daudet's "jack"

Original pen, India ink and wash drawing on paper by Célestin Allard-Cambray, an illustration for Alphonse Daudet's novel "Jack" (1876). The scene depicts Mâdou, the "little king" of Dahomey reduced to servitude, as a kitchen boy scouring a pan; above him rises, in a dreamlike vision, the memory of his royal African childhood (the ceremonial platter, the sabre, the heads), faithful to Daudet's text.

Frame: 52 x 41,5 cm
Artwork: 43 x 31 cm

Titled below: "Souvenirs du petit Roi Mâdou. Jack (d'Alphonse Daudet)". Bears at upper left the autograph dedication "À mon frère Jules" followed by the artist's signature. A highly finished drawing of great delicacy, most likely intended for engraving.

Célestin Allard-Cambray was a 19th-century French painter, draughtsman and etcher, a pupil of Léon Cogniet and Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury. His works are recorded at the BnF, the National Gallery of Canada and in the Joconde database.