Charles Bervic

Original engraving by Charles Bervic entitled La demande acceptée (The Request Granted), after Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié Paris, 1735-1784). 

Rustic interior with young man sitting next to a woman and asking for her daughter's hand in marriage; the daughter stands next to her mother while the father and the other children are sitting on the right. – Beneath the image, on either side of a cartouche with coat of arms, a dedication (in French) reads:” Dedicated to His Serene Electoral Highness Monsignor Charles Théodore, // Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Upper and Lower Bavaria Archidapifer and Elector of the Holy Empire, Duke of Juliers, Cleve and Berg ... By ... Ch. Cl. Bervic”.

Charles Clément Balvay (23 May 1756, Paris – 23 March 1822, Paris), known as Bervic, was a French engraver mainly working in intaglio and exclusively in burin. He served his first apprenticeship under Jean-Baptiste Le Prince. When he was 18, he won first prize for drawing at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, of which he was elected a member in 1784. He became a member of the Académie des beaux-arts in 1803. He won many prizes and his drawing talents were particularly appreciated.

Jean-Charles Damour (1731-?) was an intaglio printer in Paris.

Sources: British Museum; BNF; Archives de France.

Artist: Charles-Clément Balvay, dit Bervic (1756-1822).
Medium: Engraving, mounted on cardboard
Condition: Very good condition.
Dimensions: 63 x 73.5 cm. / 22 ¾ x 29 in. (sheet) / 50 x 62.7 cm. – 19 ¾ x 24 ½ in. (image).
Frame: 76 x 85 cm. / 30 x 33 ½ in. Gilt wood, matting and glass.
Origin: France.