Jacques BARRABAND (Aubusson, 1767 - Paris, 1809) Orange duck of Egypt, or Casarca duck Watercolor and gouache on wove paper. Signed in the center: "Barraband". Annotated in pencil in the upper right "n° 217" and in the lower left "pl. 9. f. 1". On the back, inscription in pen and ink: " Savigny. n° 217 ". Dry stamp of the editor Niodot fils at the bottom right (L.1961a). 52,8 x 38,2 cm Provenance : - Probably Marie-Jules-César Lelorgne de Savigny (1777-1851), member of the Egyptian expedition. - Sale of the contents of the château du Petit Saussay (Pertheville-Ners), Me Lemoine, Falaise, June 7, 1993, n° 1. - Former Jacques Malatier collection; its sale, Ader, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, October 10, 2018, n° 30. Exhibition : - Salon of 1804, Paris, part of no. 12 ("Several drawings of birds, insects, serpens and quadrupeds for the great work of Egypt, and that of M. Le Vaillant"). Bibliography: - Commission des Sciences et des Arts, La Description de l'Égypte, Planches : Histoire Naturelle, Tome I, Paris, 1809, plate 10, figure 1. - R. Guinot, Jacques Barraband, peintre sous Napoléon Ier, 2002, p. 138, reproduced. Jacques Barraband came from a family of upholsterers in Aubusson. He was born in this city in 1767 and trained there before being sent to the Manufacture des Gobelins, where his master was Joseph Malaine (1745-1809). There he developed great skill in ornithological drawing at a time of great development in the natural sciences. This watercolor of an orange duck from Egypt is a wonderful example of his exceptional ability to reproduce life with precision, both in line and in color. His growing reputation led him to be called upon by Napoleon Bonaparte for the Egyptian expedition, during which he recorded many exotic species such as the one presented here. The drawing will be selected to be reproduced in La Description de l'Égypte. Barraband illustrated many natural history books for François Levaillant. As a supreme honor, the Emperor entrusted him with the decoration of the dining room of the Château de Saint-Cloud.