Portrait of Nicolaus Deucher, Senator of Basel, Switzerland,
aged 19
Oil on canvas; 31 x 25 inches / 80 x 64.5 cm
Signed and dated "Bailly â Paris pinxit/ le 21 Juillet 1722” on the reverse. Extensive inscriptions on stretcher
Literature: Holzhalb and Leu: Allgemeines helvetisches eydgenossisches oder schweizerisches Lexicon, Zurich 1747-1765
Nicolaus Deucher (1702-1783) was born in Switzerland and by the time this portrait was painted he was a successful businessman in Paris. He later became a Senator (Ratsherr) in Basel. He is shown wearing what is probably a ball wig as was specified on invitations to dances at the French Court.
The artist, Nicolas Bailly, was not only a successful painter and miniaturist, but was also keeper of Louis XIV’s pictures, publishing a catalogue of the Royal Collection for the first time in 1709.