Henry de TRIQUETI (1803-1874) Right hand of Blanche de Triqueti (1837-1886), Ca 1846 White marble Titled under the hand: "BLANCHE.VII. SEPT.MDCCCXLVII" (sic) Inscription engraved on reverse: "Blanche de Triqueti / 7. 7bre 1846 ou 8 / H. T. Ft / D.D.I.Janv. " 7 x 16.5 x 11 cm Enclosed: Blanche's hand holding a shell Regula L.: 20.5 cm on a white marble base 3 x 22.8 x 9.8 cm Partially faded ink inscription "Main de blanche de Triqueti/ Donated to Edward Childe". Related work: Henry de Triqueti, Main droite de Blanche de Triqueti, plaster, 11.5 x 16 x 3.5 cm, Orléans, Musée des beaux-arts, n° inv.1903. Related literature : Véronique Galliot-Rateau, Henry de Triqueti, 1803-1874, sculpteur : collection du musée des beaux-arts d'Orléans, Orléans, musée des beaux-arts, Orléans, 2009, p. 57. Provenance: Château du Perthuis. Note: Blanche, eldest daughter of sculptor Henry de Triqueti, was an artist and woman of letters. Her first marriage was to Protestant banker François Delessert, one of the pioneers of photography and nephew of Valentine de Laborde, with whom she became close. She held salons, frequented fashionable writers and developed a passion for the mysteries of the Orient. She published her trip to Egypt, struck up a close friendship with the archaeologist and historian Salomon Reinach, and supported Pierre Loti, with whom she maintained a romantic correspondence. She wrote for the Revue des Deux-Mondes, took up painting and painted portraits, including one of Washington, now in the Musée d'Orsay (Portrait de Washington en buste, 1869, oval gouache, 24.8 x 19.7 cm, inv. no. RF5166). In her second marriage, she married Edward Lee Childe, nephew of the famous Southern general Robert Lee (1807-1870).