Pompon Tray: Needs Work

“approx 22 x 30 inches” As a witness to the historic 2023 rupture in the Pomponiverse, when fifteen people at Sotheby’s collectively decided to pay $279,000 for a life-size painting by Jacques Barthélémy De Lamarre, one of dozens known to exist, of a tiny, bare-ass dog “parfoit dit Pompon,” the utterly undocumented “favorite” of Marie Antoinette, I cannot stay silent about what is happening here. Because here is a picture of Pompon on a 19th century papier-mâché tray in NYC “being offered in pre-owned condition with noted need of restoration.” Honestly, since De Lamarre supposedly painted it, the French monarchy’s been through four restorations and it is currently defunct, yet is somehow still in better condition than this hapless tray and its gutless dog. And with an estimate of $7,449-$9,683, and an opening bid of $5,700, which, with the buyer’s premium, is already $7,125, it’s already being priced as an intact, signed, Pompon painting on canvas in normal condition—and as one of the…