Above: Garde Imperiale, Chevaux-Legers Polonaise, 1807-1814 - Courtesy of the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection

In 1919, having passed his examinations successfully, he entered the renowned School of Decorative Arts in Paris. His spare time was spent, sketch book in hand, wandering the rooms of the "Musee de L'Armee" and in the hallowed silence of the National Library. There he plunged into the study of such classics as Lienhart and Humbert, Fallou, Noirmont, and Marbot, to name only but a few. The great scholar Hollander eventually noticed this studious young man and was at once struck by his talent. One day he spoke to Rousselot, opening to the young man the portals of his immense knowledge. Amiably, almost paternally, he explained to Rousselot what was good and bad in the research the youthful student was compiling.

In time, Hollander introduced him to one of his friends, Jean Brunon, who, with his brother Raoul, had gathered an extraodinary collection of arms and uniforms. Impressed by Rousselot's work, Brunon assigned him the task of faithfully copying the Lalaisse series, created during the Second Empire and kept at the Musee de l'Armee. As the working relationship between Brunon and Rousselot grew, the young artist quickly became a dedicated scholar for whom Hoffman's gouaches, Potrelle's and Berka's engravings, Parrocel's or Delaistre's manuscripts, no longer held any secrets. He ascertained that many of the creators of the great classic works, which just yesterday he had admired, had taken certain liberties with contem[porary sources, adding or subtracting details on a uniform or piece of equipment according to personal whim. Rousselot's name began to become known and he created, for a small number of collectors, watercolours full of life and freshness.

Above: Trumpeters of the Imperial Guard, Empress' Dragoons Regiment 1806-1815 - Courtesy of the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection.

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