Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category
Rummer Mechanical table
Period : Germany, late 18th century
Attribution : Michael Rummer (1747-1821)
Michael Rummer was one of the eminent cabinetmakers active in Berlin towards the end of the 18th century. His style is characterized by pure lines, mechanical furniture, neoclassicism and the influence of David Roentgen (friezes, bronzes, legs,…).
Mechanical table in a veneer of cherrywood, Bronsinum and pearwood, on a frame of oak and pine. The top is decorated in marquetry, with a ribbon rolled around a stick. The table unfolds after rotating the top, to reveal a writing box, giving access to storage space and press buttons to open three secret drawers in the apron.
The secret doors can be opened thanks to the press buttons located on the apron and underneath the frame.
It stands on four sheath legs with four sides
Fine ormolu decoration, such as roses, cascades and ball feet.
Size :
Height. 70,5 cm. 2 ft 3 3/4 in.
Width. 95 cm. 3 ft 1 1/2 in.
Depth. 69 cm. 2 ft 3 in.
The Four Seasons
Group of four « biscuits » depicting the four seasons.
Two young maiden embody Spring and Summer as two young boys are the metaphors for Fall and Winter.
Spring is holding a swirl of flowers, Summer is adorned with wheat cobs, Fall is eating grapes and Winter is taking shelter from the wind in a cloak.
These four « biscuits » have been made after the model of the Four Seasons by Camillo Rusconi of 1710, the originals are kept at the Windsor Castle.
Period : Doccia, around 1760-1770
Attributed to Gaspero Bruschi, active in Doccia between 1737 and 1778.
Marks : 93 incised under the Winter biscuit
63 incised under the Summer one
GB incised under the Summer one (probably standing for Gaspero Bruschi)
Dimensions : Height 20 in.
Swiss night light clock
A night light clock in chiselled and gilded bronze.
It stands on a violet wood silk finished platted pedestal.
Open work, time runs from right to left.
The legs can be parted from the base and for travel accommodation they can be tucked under.
It chimes hours, and alarm clock and repeats the alarm.
The alarm-clock time can be set on the dial: it can be triggered by a spindle placed next to the wished hour.
A place on the top of the box is made to put a candle, allowing night reading
Period : Switzerland, First half of the XVIII° century
Bibliography :
• La pendule française, P. Kjellberg, reproduction of a similar model p. 152, Fig. A.
• La pendule française, Tardy, 1949, reproduction of a model in the same spirit, Tome III, p. 822, Fig. 1.
Dimensions :
Height 1 ft 5 1/3 in.
Width 8 in.
Depth 8 in.
Pair of Viennese bottle-coolers
Two Viennese bottle-coolers in silver and blue glass ornated with bay friezes and bay swirls and fleurs de lys too.
The handles are decorated with knotted rushes.
The belly is slatted with small spaces.
The containers are made of faceted and chiseled blue glass.
Period : Vienna, 1775.
Silversmith : Ignaz Krautauer, Master in Vienna in 1771
Signed « « IGN KRAUTAUER INV. ET FEC VIENNAE 1775 » on the small pedestal.
Dimensions : Height. 24 cm. 9 ½ in.
Width. 29 cm. 11 ½ in.
Roman sleeping woman
Oil on canvas
At the foreground, this painting shows a woman asleep on her bed. The crimson matress is overlaid with a white sheet, a pillow trimmed with lace and a striped, colourful drape. She hold a fan in her left hand that is released. Her right hand lightly rests on the pillow.
The Roman woman is sleeping near a colonnade where two birds are resting.
Through the columns, one can see a very typical roman countryside landscape.
Period : Roma, 1859
Painter : Felix-Auguste Clément
Signed « F.A. Clément, Rome 1859 » under the right hand side column
Origins : Haro Collection, end of the XIX century
Dimensions :
View : 121 x 199 cm.
4 ft x 6 ft 6 1/2 in.
Frame : 152 x 230 cm.
5 ft x 7 ft 6 1/2 in.
Félix-Auguste Clément (Donzère 1826-1888 Algiers)
He self-taught himself to drawand then attendede from 1843 to 1848 the Lyons Ecole des Beaux Artscourses with Bonnefond as a teacher.
He left Lyons to work in Paris along with Drolling and then at the Ecole des Beaux Arts with Picot. In 1853 he showed a portrait.
In 12856 he won first-prize in Grand Prix de rome with « Young Tobby returning home » (le retour du jeune Tobby ). Staying in Roma, he sent to the salon taking place in Paris « the Roman woman sleeping » in 1858, a nude study, along with « the hunter-tail » (le dénicheur) in 1861.
Back from Roma, in 1862, he went to Egypt where he was asked by Prince Halim to decorate his Choubrah palace near Cairo.
He returned to France in 1868 and was ordered by the State in 1872 to go and copy in Padua a fresco by Mantegna.
In 1875, he was promoted painting teacher at the Lyons Ecole des Beaux-Arts, he then settled himself in Paris.
Because of his health, he spent the 1787-1788 summer in Algiers, where he died.
Some of Clément’s works can be seen in Lyons, Nica, and Valencia museums.
Several sales including paintings by Clément can be found in E. Benezit Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs.
In 1892, at the Haro sale, a painting called « the rest » (la sieste) reaches 2900 Francs. What’s more, at the back of our Roman woman sleeping, one can read, penciled, « Clément…La sieste ».
The genuine title of this painting, The « Roman woman sleeping « has been forgotten for the benefit of « the rest » (la sieste).
The Washing of Venus in an antic ruins setting
Oil on canvas
Period : Late XVII°-early XVIII°
Painters :
Architecture and landscape : Gennaro Greco called il Mascacotta (Naples 1663-1714)
Characters : Sebastiano Conca ( Gaeta 1680-Naples 1706)
Dimensions : 30×55 inches
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Gennaro Greco, called il Mascacotta :
Gennaro Greco began his career as a painter of ornaments and ceilings. He collaborated with decorative painters, among them Francesco Solimena. And the gilded ornaments of Paolo de Matteis’ paintings in the Church San Francisco Saverio, (more known today as San Ferdinando) in Naples are said to be his works.
However while studying Andrea Pozzo architectural treaty : Perspectiva pictorum et architectorum, written in the late XVII° century, he discovered the imaginary views knows as « vedute ideate ».
Self-taught, Greco quickly stated himself as a perspective specialist and played a key part in the spreading of landscape Italian painting. Indeed his architectural views that are both aerial and theatrical and built in an offset perspective have made their point in changing the tradition of the XVII° century « vedute ideate » as it had been been codified by Viviano Codazzi. The still and decorative atmosphere of his works contrasts with the dramatic scenes as seen by Leonardo Cocorrante. It is closer to Pietro Capelli’s style, more ornamented,and luxurious too.
All in all the color palette that Greco uses, running from pale green to blue-grey, along with the atmosphere of deep luminosity given by the painting, and the playing on chiaroscuro with the architecture of the constructions, all this foreshadows the XVIII° century capricci. The characters of Greco’s painting are, most of the time, attributed to co-worker. In this piece, the characters are by Sebastiano Conca (Gaeta 1680-Naples 1764), Solimena’s apprentice in Naples from 1693 to 1706.
Psyche
Oil on an oak panel
This painting is a study for the Psyche kept at the Wallace Collection.
Period : circa 1786
Painter : Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805)
Dimensions : 1 foot 2 inches. X 1 foot 1 1/4inches.
Certificate established by Monsieur Edgar MUNHALL
Bibliography : J. Ingamells, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Pictures, III, French before 1815, London, 1989, pp. 180-181, 201, 388, 440.
Jean-Baptiste Greuze :
Jean-Baptiste Greuze is the son of a roofer from Tournus. He was the apprentice of the painter Charles Grandon. Around 1750, he attends Natoire’s courses at the Académie where he is accredited in 1755 thanks to his painting : « The duped blindman » (in French « l’aveugle trompé »). He becomes successful and gains a substancial though envied notoriety as a genre painter and a portraitist.
From 1755 to 1757 he travels in Italy along with Abbé Gougenot. As he returns he befriends with Diderot whom he is the protégé. Diderot confesses in his notes of the Salon that he prefers Greuze rather than Boucher. Greuze works, both paintings and drawings are then sold to a French and foreign clientele (mostly Russian) and reach very high prices.
In 1769, Jean Baptiste Greuze is accepted at the Académie as a genre painter even though he has decided to fulfil the academic requirements and to paint his famous « Septimus Severus and Caracalla ». This is such a failure that he was not to enter the Salon du Louvres until the French revolution. He then becomes bankrupt due to this event. And still he presents some paintings at the 1800, 1801 and 1804 Salons. But time has changed for the benefit of artists such as Vien or David.
Along with his painting his work of drawing is significant.
Twelve lights Schinkel Chandelier
A fine twelve lights chandelier, crowned with two circles of pendants. The chandelier is made of carved silvered and gilded wood and of a tin alloy. It is ornamented with arabesques, flowers, palm leaves, acanthus leaves…
Architect designer : Probably Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841)
There are two other chandeliers in the same spirit, one still at the Château de Glienecke, in Postdam, and the other one, a bigger one, that was at the Château de Sagan.
« Besuche vor dem Untergang », Alvensleben-Koenigswald, 1968, p.216, 217 and depicted p.208-209.
Karl Friedrich Schinkel :
Karl Friedrich Schinkel was born in 1781 in Neuruppin and died in Berlin in 1841. He was a German architect, a painter and a writer. He was Gilly’s student and began his career as a background painter. Schinkel was a firm admirer of Greek architecture and was a key figure in the spreading of the Classical style in Prussia. Promoted chief architect of Berlin, he built the Nouvelle Garde(1816-1818), along with the Theater (1818-1821) and the Ancien Musée (1824-1828). These achievements put into highlighting his acute assimilation of Antic architecture and also his vision of greatness.
In many of his works, he showed a keen interest in the Gothic style.
Bibliography :
• « Lichter Leuchten im Abendland », kurt Jarmuth, ed. Klinkhardt & Biermann, Brauschweig.
• « Karl Friedrich Schinkel , Architektur Malerei Kunstgewerbe », Orangerie des Schlosses Charlottenburg, 13 Märs bis 13 September 1981 ;
• « Preusen kunst und Arcitektur », Gert Streidt, Peter Freierabend, Köln, 1999.
• « Karl Friedrich Schinkel », Johannes Sievers, Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin.
Slope-front “dos d’âne”desk by Garnier
The desk is curved on all faces, which are covered in a marquetry of end-grain wood over a background of chevrons in red lustred Bronsinum. The inlaid patterns represent flowering branches along the apron, the back and sides. The top and slope-flap have a serpentine cartouche in violet wood framing birds perched on flowering branches. The reverse side depicts a large multifoil shell flanked by floral branches. The end panels are veneered in amaranth.
The desk is opened by a sloping flap covered in brown leather edged with amaranth underneath, disclosing a tier of three rows of drawers arranged on two levels. The façades of the drawers are curved.
The whole is adorned with flowering branches in end-grain wood over a background of red lustred Bronsinum inside an amaranth frame. The six drawers are in walnut ; the one at the bottom right contains writing materials, with a powder-box, inkwell and pen tray in brass.
Concealed at the back of the interior, which is decorated in a similar inlaid pattern of end-grain wood and red lustred Bronsinum, are two secret compartments with partitioned wells. The one on the right opens by pressing the central screw of the hinge in the middle. As for the one on the left, it is necessary to open the well on the right, push the central partition towards the back of the desk and lift a small cleat while pushing the sliding cover. Each compartment contains two big drawers with a curved façade, veneered in chevrons of red lustred Bronsinum.
The desk is decorated with an ormolu ornamentation:
The border frieze on the slope-flap is formed of leafy rinceaux, with a Rocaille cartouche enclosing the keyhole at the top and a basket of flowers at the bottom.
A surrounding frieze of leafy rinceaux outlines the top, with mangnificent corner mounts formed of palms, waves and rockery, prolonged by vertical falls of foliage flowing down to the caps of the legs decorated with leafy open-work ormolu.
The bottom of the desk, the corners of the legs and the slope-flap are emphasized by a reed.
A knob on each drawer and three decorative rocaille elements fixed to the bottom of the desk (one in front and one on each side) complete the ormolu ornamentation.
It stands on four curved five-faced legs.
Although this desk, which goes back to the years 1745-55, does not bear any mark, it is very likely that it once belonged to the Imperial Russian collections. It is not known when it entered Russia. During that period, sovereigns would often move from one residence to another, followed by their furniture. In Russia, Parisian furniture was considered to be the height of luxury and sophistication.
The sales catalogue of 12 June 1973, in which this desk is illustrated, makes reference to a gift from Louis XV to Czarina Elisabeth Petrovna, but the size of our desk does not match that of the writing desk bought by the King from the dealer Thomas-Joachim Hébert for 7255 pounds, which was offered to the Empress on the advice of his Ambassador the Marquis de La Chétardie, in the hope of winning her support in the Austrian war of succession.
Throughout her reign (1741-1762), Empress Elisabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, commissioned numerous pieces of furniture for the palace she had built or refitted in Saint-Petersbourg. Her close circles imitated her and as a result, there was a proliferation in the Russian capital of palaces in the latest style, filled with French furniture and paintings from the best schools.
Count Mikhaïl Illarionovitch Vorontsov (1714-1767), the Chancellor of Elisabeth, who was very much in favour of a French alliance, travelled to France in 1745, under the name of the Count of Maslow, accompanied by his wife Anna, a first cousin of Elisabeth. He was received by the Queen at Versailles, where Louis XV offered him furniture and tapestries.
In 1758, he sent his tapestry-maker Corner to Paris to make purchases for his palace, which was built by Bartolomeo Rastrelli from 1749 to 1757.
In her memoirs, Princess Dashkov, the niece of Vorontsov, who was President of the Academy of Science under Catherine II, speaks of the courtesy and refined elegance of the society frequented by the house of her uncle, as well as the entirely European taste that had prevailed over its furnishing and decoration, magnificent enough to be justifiably ranked as a princely residence
Furthermore, the ambassadors of France felt obliged to furnish their residences in splendour, and on leaving left the country, they would sell the furniture they had brought with them, thus creating another source of supply for the Russian market.
Sales of artworks by the Soviets.
From the 1920s onwards, the obvious economic failure of the Soviets, associated with the collapse of the gold reserves in the USSR, the decrease in production and the fall in prices of raw materials, led the Soviets to seek new sources of foreign currency to finance their industrialization and purchases of equipment from abroad. It was therefore decided to follow the example of the Convention which had proceeded with massive sales of artworks in 1793. The sale of artworks had actually started with the arrival of the Bolsheviks, but the Soviets decided to multiply such operations.
In 1928, the Antikvariat assumed the task of selecting, evaluating and scattering art collections. Major works from Imperial collections, museums or spoliations were consequently put on sale through the intermediary of auction houses, including the auctioneer Rudolph Lepke in Germany. Other sales were held by mutual agreement, to the benefit of foreign dealers and leading collectors (including Callouste Gulbenkian).
Stamp: GARNIER (François Garnier, active from 1730 to 1774 or Pierre Garnier, received as Master in 1742) and the JME mark of the Jurande des Menuisiers Ebénistes parisiens.
François and Pierre Garnier:
The initial on the stamp is almost illegible and it is therefore impossible to determine wherther it is a P or F. On the occasion of the Lepka sale, our desk was attributed to François Garnier, although subsequently there was a tendency to attribute it to Pierre, whose production was, on the whole, much more luxurious than that of his father, whose stamp is rarely encountered.
At present, it seems to be acknowledged that our desk should be classified as being a creation of Pierre Garnier (1720-1800), received as Master in 1742, who was one of the most brilliant cabinetmakers of his time, with a a production that reflected the way the Rocaille style developed from its most picturesque form to the purest neoclassicism. He was one of the initiators of the « Greek » style. Pierre Garnier’s production was both rich and abundant, and thanks to his talent, he was able to attract a carefully chosen clientèle. The Marquis de Contades commissioned from him furniture for the Château de Montgeoffroy and the brother of Madame de Pompadour, the Marquis de Marigny, Directeur Général des Bâtiments, Jardins, Arts, Académies et Manufactures du Roi, ordered furniture for his official residence.
When he passed away, Les Petites Affiches of II Germinal Year VIII announced his death by stating that « any eulogy would be superfluous ».
Pieces of furniture bearing the stamp of Pierre Garnier are the pride of the finest collections.
Provenance:
• Probably the Imperial Russian Collections before 1917 (sale by the Soviets)
• Rudolph Lepke Kunst-Auction-Haus Berlin sale, Kunstwerke aus den Beständen Leningrader Museen und Schlösser, second part, 4 and 5 June 1929, lot 200.
• Founès Collection, sale in Paris, Galerie Charpentier, on 27 June 1935, lot 118, auctioned at 35,100 Francs.
• Bensimon Collection
• Mr. and Mrs. G. Collection, sale in Paris, Palais Galliera, 12 June 1973, lot 102.
Exhibition:
« Grands ébénistes et menuisiers parisiens du XVIIIème siècle », December 1955-February 1956, Paris, Musée des Arts décoratifs.
Bibliography:
• André Boutemy, « Les vraies formes du bureau dos d’âne », Connaissance des arts, N° 77, July 1958, pp. 38-43.
• Exhibition catalogue « Grands ébénistes et menuisiers parisiens du XVIIIème siècle », Paris, Musée des Arts décoratifs, December 1955-February 1956, N° 112, pl. XV.
Size:
Height 91 cm. 3 ft.
Width 102 cm. 3 ft 4 in.
Depth 56 cm. 1 ft 10 in.
Lion snouts armchair
Impressive mahogany chair. The high back reclines using bronze handles shaped as lion snouts. The armrests are finished by carved lion heads. The circular rotating seat is adjustable.
It stands on four claw feet.
Period: France, early nineteenth century
This chair has an inscription in ink on the underside of the belt Foliot tapissier rue de Bourbon-Villeneuve. He must be a descendant of Quinibert Nicolas Foliot (who owned two houses in Bourbon Street (now rue d’Aboukir)). In the trade almanac Foliot tapissier is registred in this street between 1823 and 1828.
sizes:
High. 120 cm. 47 1 / 4 in.
Width. 74 cm. 29 in..
Deepth. 64 cm. 25 in..
Dumb waiter by Carlin
A dumb waiter with three trays in mahogany, mahogany veneer and ormolu. It is supported by stiles in the shape of fluted columns and balusters in copper, ending in tapered legs. The rear stiles are in the shape of square-based pilasters. An attractive chiseled ormolu decorates the galleries of the trays, the rings and the sabots. The two shelves and the top are in white veined marble.
Period: Louis XVI
Stamp: Martin CARLIN, Master in 1766
Size:
Height 86 cm 2 ft 10 in
Width 49 cm 19 1/4 in
Depth 35 cm 13 3/4 in
Armchair with winged sphinxes
An armchair inspired by Antiquity with a high curved back in mahogany and mahogany veneer.
The armrests are supported by two winged sphinxes standing on a rectangular pedestal ending in castors.
Period: late 18th century
Provenance: Former collection of Jean Bloch, sale in Paris, Palais Galliera, 13 June 1961, Lot. 108.
Exhibition: This armchair was included in the exhibition on “French Chairs” held in June-July 1947, n° 186.
Size:
Height – 128 cm 4 ft 2 3/8 in
Width – 66 cm 2 ft 2 in
Depth- 58 cm. 22 7/8 in.
Bibliography:
This armchair is directly inspired by Antiquity. A chair of the same model is depicted in the painting by David at the Louvre, entitled “Lictors Bringing Back to Brutus the Body of His Sons” (Inv. NM 2683), painted for the King in 1789. This painting shows three antique-style chairs that had been ordered and made for David by his cabinet-maker Georges Jacob.
Sophie Monneret “David et le néoclassicisme” Finest SA / Finest Pierre Terrail, p. 92.
Pair of Louis XV corner settees
Pair of grey colored painted corner settees.
Wavy line backrest.
Floral engravings on the top and bottom frame, as well as on the armrest and the undulated feet.
Stamped : N. Heurtaut, Master in 1755.
Period : Louis XV, circa 1760
Provenance : family tradition dictates that it is said to have belonged to Madame du Barry.
Bibliography :
• P. Kjellberg, « Le Mobilier Français du XVIII° Siècle », 1989, p. 404, fig. B (only one settee is shown).
Dimensions:
Large 150 cm 59 in
Depth 115 cm 45 1/2 in
Leleu escritoire
Inlaid desk which can be opened by three drawers forming a belt, a flap that reveals a leather tray and a filling cabinet with seven drawers.
Beautiful decoration of guilded bronze such as: framings, friezes, locks, ect…
The upper part of the filling cabinet is decorated with 3 slabes of marble.
Period : Louis XVI
Dimensions :
height. 112 cm. 44 in.
width. 96 cm. 38 in.
depth. 53 cm. 21 in.
Pair of phoenix bracket candlesticks
A pair of bracket candlesticks with two branches.
The branches are decorated with foliage and small bells, ending in sockets and nozzles adorned with leaves, seeds and floral crowns. The light brackets are joined by a phoenix with spread wings. The candlesticks are embellished with scrolls of acanthus leaves, flowers, ivy tendrils and seeds.
Period: Regency, early 19th century
Size:
Height 59 cm.
Width 33 cm.
Depth 18 cm.
Axminster carpet
A medallion with roses and bouquets decorates the middle of a raspberry “caisson” ground. A frieze of vine leaves forms a delicate internal border, and a wider border is composed of a frieze of griffons, baskets of fruit and volutes.
Origin : Axminster Carpet Factory (England)
Period : First quarter of the 19th century
Technique : Hand knots
Material : wool velvet on a linen weft and cotton warp
757 x 554 cm
24 ft 10 in x 18 ft 2 in
Secretaire by Fourreau
Secretaire with a flap, drawer and door. It has pronounced architectural features and is adorned with fluted pilasters. The panels are decorated with reliefs in European lacquer, over a black background, in imitation of Japanese lacquers. These lacquers, of an exceptionally high quality, made use of oxidation techniques on silver leaves, with the help of oxidizing agents, in order to obtain different colours. These lacquer panels depict genre scenes peopled with musicians and other characters in a landscape with pagodas, trees, bouquets, …
The chiselled ormolu decoration consists of the bronze gallery embellished with draperies, friezes of beads, … It stands on four tapered and fluted legs. The top is in white veined marble.
Period: Louis XVI
Attribution: Louis Foureau
The Musée Carnavalet in Paris and the Musée de Reims own two pairs of corner cupboards in European lacquer made by Louis Foureau.
Height 130 cm 51 in
Width 50 cm 19 3/4 in
Depth 30 cm 11 3/4 in
Pair of cabinets in Japanese lacquer and gilded wood
Pair of cabinets in black and gold lacquer, gilded bronze and copper.
Period:
• Cabinet: Japan, Edo (1603-1867), second half of the 17th century
• Stand: France, Regency (1700-1735).
Provenance:
Collection belonging to the Comtesse Gardès
Bibliography:
• Thibaut Wolversperges, Le meuble français en laque au XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 2000, p. 31-38.
• Calin Demetrescu, Le style Régence, Paris, 2003, p. 70-81.
Total:
Height 147 cm. 58 in.
Width 81 cm. 32 in.
Depth 52 cm. 20 ½ in.
Cabinets:
Height 66 cm. 26 in.
Width 77 cm. 30 ¼ in.
Depth 48 cm. 19 in.
Stand:
Height 81 cm. 32 in.
Width 81 cm. 32 in.
Depth 52 cm. 20 ½ in.
Empire chandelier
Chandelier with 18 lights in crystal and finely chiseled and gilded bronze. It is composed of two circles of fillets bordering a frieze of laurels and flowerets separated by eight arrows, joined at the centre by a blue enameled globe and scattered with gilt stars. The basket ends with a rose and a seed-shaped knob. A panache and small palm leaves crown the chandelier from which hang garlands of crystals.
Period: Empire, circa 1810
Crystal: by Ladoupède du Fougerais, entrepreneur and owner of the Mont-Cenis crystal works.
Ladoupède du Fougerais delivered a very similar chandelier with 16 lights on 24 April 1810, for the small salon of the apartments of the Empress at the Petit Trianon in Versailles. This chandelier is illustrated in Versailles, le Petit Trianon”, by Denise Ledoux-Lebard, published by Editions de l’Amateur, 1989, p. 95, n° 61.
Height 117 cm 3 ft 10 in
Diameter 81 cm 32 in
Pair of marble vases
A pair of egg-shaped vases in African breccia marble mounted in bronze. A fine ormolu ornamentation, such as the handles, Bacchus masks supporting a chain and the cover decorated with foliage. The vases stand on a square ormolu base and piedouche.
Period: late 18th century
Size:
Height 51.5 cm. 20 1/4 in.
Width 27 cm. 10 5/8 in.
Chinese set mounted in bronze
Period : Louis XVI, circa 1770
Bronzesmith : attributed to Jean Charles Delafosse (1734-1789)
Provenance : Etienne Levy Collection
Bibliography : F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, Vol. II, published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a similar vase is reproduced on page 483, n° 272, A and B.
Size :
Middle vase: Height: 27 cm
Width: 18 cm
Side vases Height: 25 cm
Width: 9.5 cm
Chinise set mounted in Bronze (suite)
A set consisting of three oviform vases in Chinese porcelain, with a red ground and gold highlights, and gilded and chiselled bronze.
The middle vase is decorated with houses arranged in a landscape. The neck is highlighted with aquatic leaves topped by a striated band. The handles are formed of Greek friezes linked together by a big garland of entwined laurels, and joined to the bottom part to form the feet, which are also embellished with palmettes.
The two smaller vases are accentuated by a decoration of peonies surrounded by foliage. The neck, in gilded bronze, is adorned with gadroons and has rings holding a chain. The handles represent masks of old men. The circular piedouche is finely fluted and bordered by rinceaux. The base has hollowed-out sides and is embellihed with striated plaques.
A pair of vases similar to the middle one belongs to the Wrightsman Collection.
Silk panel
This panel is composed of pieces of silk in different colours, sewn together, mounted on a canvas and highlighted with paint.
The scene depicts an episode from « The Story of Joseph »: Joseph nominated as Governor by the Pharoah and First Intendant. It is taken from the Book of Genesis, Chapter 42:
…. The seven years of abundance came to an end, and the seven years of famine began in Egypt. There was famine in all the lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food.
Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, he said unto his sons Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt : get you down thither, and buy for us from thence ; that we may live, and not die. But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren.
And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came … And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew him not. Using his authority he treated them as spies but they defended themselves by talking about their family.
Then Joseph secretly commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way. Then he bound Simeon and he said to them: Bring your youngest brother unto me, then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men; so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.
And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them.
The scene is probably inspired by an engraving.
The borders are typical of the ornamental motifs of the second School of Fontainbleau, as seen, for example, on the fireplaces of the Château d’Ecouen.
Period: France, late 15th century, early 16th century.
Size:
Height 189 cm.
Width 383 cm.
Set of eight chairs
A set of eight flat-back chairs from the Empire and Louis-Philippe period, in sculpted and gilded wood, having a rectangular back with a pleated-ribbon decoration, an apron adorned with roses, and sabre legs.
Two chairs are stamped Jacon D.R. Meslée. They were supplied by Georges Jacob and François Honoré Jacob (known as Jacob Desmalter), for the theatre at the Petit Trianon in 1810.
Six chairs are stamped Jacob for Georges-Alphonse Jacob. They match the above-mentioned chairs and were ordered by Louis-Philippe.
The two chairs stamped Jacob-D-RMeslée are marked « Trianonspectacle 1810 » in ink with the following numbers:
• PT 1363 (in red ink of the inventory of 1834)
• 5688 (in black ink of the inventory of 1839)
• T 4573 (of the inventory of 1855)
Four chairs stamped Jacob bear the firemark of the Château d’Eu and the two others are marked Dreux.
Size:
The two Empire chairs :
Height 91 cm 36 in
Width 37 cm 14 1/2 in
The six Louis-Philippe chairs
Height 91 cm 36 in
Width 38 cm 15 in
Bibliography:
The invoice of the first two chairs supplied by Jacob-Desmalter and the upholsterer François-Louis CASTELNAUXDARRAC, dated 25 July 1810, is worded as follows :
« 50 chaises en bois d’hêtre mise au couleur d’acajou,
couvertes en velours d’Utrecht bleu à larges raies,
galon faux or et clous dore lentille. Bois d’une haise
Pour l’appui du pourtour, l’avoir dégarni et regarni plus
fort. Total du premier pourtour; 2,824.82 » (D. Ledoux-
Lebard, Le Petit Trianon, 1989, p. 222)
DARRAC, who died in 1862, was one of the leading upholsterers of the early 19th century. He carried out many orders for the imperial residences (D. Ledoux-Lebard, Les ébénistes du XIX°, 2nd edition, p. 146).
The Theatre was originally called the Petit Théatre. Marie-Antoinette was responsible for having it built in 1778-1780, like the other houses of her retreat at the Petit Trianon. The theatre was designed by Richard Micque in the « antique » style.
In 1809, Napoleon decided to renovate the theatre for his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise. The fabric used by the upholsterer Darac was replaced by one in crimson red.
In 1837, Louis-Philippe renovated the Petit Trianon for his son the Duc d’Orléans, and these chairs seem to have been made at that time and were later transported to the Château d’Eu and the Chapel of Dreux (D. Ledoux-Lebard, op. cit., p. 364).
Pendule squelette
A console and mirror in brass and ebony marquetry, chiseled and gilded bronze, amethyst and carnelian, bearing the monogram of the Duc Ferdinand-Philipe d’Orléans (1810-1842).
The marquetry consists of brass and pewter on an ebony ground, decorated with scrolls and volutes of acanthus leaves.
The back of the console has a raised medallion in the middle repeating the general decoration.
The base is made of ebony veneer.
Carnelian beads and amethyst cabochons form part of the decoration.
The ormolu ornamentation includes animal masks, cord-like friezes, beads and frames.
The top is in green marble with white veins.
The console and mirror bear the monogram of the Duc d’Orleans, surmounted by the ducal crown held by two cherubs.
Period: Paris, circa 1835-1839
Attributed to Louis-Alexandre Bellangé (born after 1797)
The Duc Ferdinand-Philipe d’Orléans (1810-1842)
The Duc Ferdinand-Philipe d’Orléans, a royal prince and the eldest son of Louis-Philippe, lived in the Pavillon de Marsan at the Tuileries Palace. Constantly in search of the best artistic achievements, the Duke actively involved the Bellangé family in the vast programme to redecorate the Tuileries between 1834 and 1840. The Duc bought several pieces of furniture made by Louis-Alexandre Bellangé at the Exposition des Produits de l’Industrie in 1834 and 1839.
The Duke died at the age of 32 in an accident with his barouche.
Console:
Height 99 cm. 3 ft 3 in.
Width 127 cm. 4 ft 2 in.
Depth 56 cm. 1 ft 10 in.
Mirror:
Height 166 cm. 5 ft 3 in.
Width 121 cm. 3 ft 11 ½ in.
Commode by Delorme
Period: Louis XV
Attributed to Adrien Delorme, received as Master in 1748
Marks: chalk inscription 3356 twice plus a paper label with an inscription and N°7
Provenance:
• Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1809-1879),
• His son, Baron Léopold de Rothschild (1845-1917),
• His son, Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942),
• Baron Edmund de Rothschild (born in 1916),
• Frank Partridge & Sons, end of the 1940s
• Blackwell collection.
Commode by Delorme (contd)
Bibliography:
Pierre Verlet, Les Ebénistes du XVIIIème Siècle Français, 1963, p. 116
Size:
Height 86.5cm. 2 ft 10 in.
Width 145 cm. 4 ft 9 in.
Depth 68 cm. 2 ft 2 in.
This commode has a sinuous form and is curved on all sides.
It has two drawers without a rail.
It has a rosewood veneer arranged in an inlaid frieze of flowers in wood tinted in green, yellow and pink.
On the front, this marquetry pattern is enclosed in a large cartouche in the middle, outlined by a gilded bronze frame arranged on reserves of amaranth wood. The cartouche is flanked on both sides by two panels that echo each other, which are also surrounded by reserves in amaranth wood encircled by a gilded bronze frame.
The cartouche in the middle is asymmetrical, and is composed of palms, rinceaux of leaves, openwork rocaille and shells enclosing the keyholes and the drawer handles formed of scrolls of foliage for the bottom drawer and of dragons for the top drawer.
The main cartouche, asymmetrical in shape, is superimposed by another larger and more rectilinear one outlined by a finer bronze frame.
The bottom is embellished with an asymmetrical apron ornament formed of palms, acanthus leaves and small flowers.
Commode by Delorme (contd 2)
The asymmetrical vertical mounts at the corners have an openwork pattern with an ornamentation of rocaille, palms and foliage, prolonged by a reed on the crest of the legs falling down to the leafy feet
The sides are embellished with a similar marquetry arranged in a central quadrilobate medallion outlined by a bronze ornamentation of palms, rinceaux of foliage and openwork rocaille over a ground of amaranth wood, framed by four spandrels in rosewood inlaid with flowers, the whole surrounded by an ornamentation in gilded bronze.
All the crests of the apron and the feet are marked by reeds in gilded bronze. Marquetry reserves highlight the front stiles just above the legs.
The top is in Sarrancolin marble with an ogee edging.
Comparable works:
This commode belongs to a small group of highly similar commodes all decorated on the front with a large asymmetrical cartouche and spectacular drawer handles in the shape of dragons, attributed to Delorme on the basis of the example at the Petit Palais in Paris, which bears his signature.
A recent restoration has revealed the mark of Pierre Roussel, who was received as Master 1748.
This could imply that Delorme, acting as a merchant-cabinetmaker, might be the person who ordered this commode, of which he was the author and owner of the model, and that Roussel merely executed it.
A similar commode, stamped by Delorme, belonged to the Matthew Schutz collection.
Another one belonged to Lady Jane Douglas and another to Mrs. Price.
The latter was part of the collections of the Grand Duc et Margrave de Bade.
Commode by Delorme (contd 3)
Adrien Delorme
Son of the Master-Cabinetmaker François Delorme (who died in 1768), Adrien Delorme, belonged to a line of craftsman whose original name was Faizelot. His brothers Jean-Louis and Alexis were also master-cabinetmakers. He was received as Master in 1748 and left his father’s workshop in rue Tiquetonne to move to rue du Temple where he established himself as a merchant-cabinetmaker. He was one of the best cabinetmakers during the reign of Louis XV and was a juryman of his guild from 1768 to 1770. He earned his reputation thanks to his highly original and superb marquetry. One of his favourite ornamental motifs is composed of very sinuous rinceaux inlaid alone on a ground of a chevron-patterned veneer in sharp contrasts of light and darker wood He also had a strong inclination for Chinese and Japanese lacquers, as well as European varnishes imitating those of China and Japan. According to Pierre Verlet, « His works are among the most audacious in the rocaille style of the Louis XV period ».
Furniture bearing his mark can be found in major public and private collections, in particular, the Louvre, the Musée du Petit Palais, in Paris, the Jean-Paul Getty Museum in Malibu and Waddesdon Manor near London.
Dans les bois
Oil on canvas.
This painting depicts a young nude woman in the woods. She is standing in a so-called “Venus” posture, with her arms raised behind her head and her body in slight contraposto, with the right leg slightly bent.
Period: 1875-1876
Painter: Henri Gervex (1852-1876)
Signature: “H. GERVEX” on the left at the bottom
Exhibition: Salon of 1876, Palais des Champs-Elysées, 1st May 1876, no. 887 of the Exhibition.
Bibliography: This painting is in the Catalogue Raisonné of the Work of Henri Gervex, currently being prepared by Jean-Christophe Pralon-Gourvennec.
Size: 209 x 95 cm 82 1/4 x 37 1/3 in
The preparatory drawing for this picture is in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille, under the inventory number W 2988, SPBD83.
Henri Gervex exhibited “In the Woods” and “Autopsy at the Hôtel Dieu” at the Salon of 1876. He won a medal, which placed him “out of competition” and also gave permanent access to future Salons without having to pass before the Jury.
Bust of Minerva
A bust of Minerva in agate, onyx and gilded repoussé brass. The helmet is decorated with wings in blued steel and surmounted by a winged sphinx. The breastplate is decorated with a Medusa mask. It stands on a rectangular base.
Period : Reutlingen, 1887-1891
Sculptor : Wilhelm Schmidt (1842-1922)
Signature : W. Schmidt
Provenance :
probably the Universal Exhibition of Munich in 1892
Size :
Height: 34 cm 13 1/2 in