By columnist Paul Paradis,
Art Historian, Specialist Consultant in French Furniture and Decorative Arts
The week-end before last, I
panicked, realizing that the following week would be heavy in important
auctions at all of the major houses plus Drouot. As I would be absent from the next day for a trip to Burgundy,
that Saturday would be my only chance t
o see the presale viewings. Not really having planned to be so
ambitious that day, I found myself running from the exhibition of an important sale of Old Master Paintings at Tajan held in one
of the Drouot salerooms (featuring a newly-rediscovered Massacre of the
Innocents by Jean-Baptiste
Marie Pierre from 1763), to Christie’s where 15 important works from the Veil-Picard
collection were on display, then on to Artcurial where, to my delight
they were organizing an important auction of 18th century furniture
and decorative arts.
Previously the Paris auction calendar featured prestigious 18th century furniture and decorative arts sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in April and June respectively, but recently the two houses seem to have coordinated these high-end events in April (See Paris Art Market Buzz May 19th). Apparently Artcurial has opted to remain independent and hold the prestigious sale in June. This seems to have been a wise choice.
The Auction House Artcurial, Paris
The presale exhibition was elegantly displayed in the light-soaked upper salons of the Hôtel Marcel Dassault, an impressive hôtel particulier built in 1844 in a flamboyant neo-Louis XV style featuring replicas of the famed gilt wrought-iron gates of the Place Stanislas in Nancy by the great metal smith Jean Lamour (1698-1771). The 198 lots spanned an impressive array of silver (mostly 19th century), oriental and European porcelain, furniture and objets d’art. The large rooms breathed nicely and the objects all appeared right at home. As I began to approach a star lot of the sale which had been featured on the cover of last week’s Gazette Drouot, an astonishing Louis XV secrétaire à abattant (drop-front secretary) stamped by Pierre Roussel (1723-1782), I was immediately struck by the small size and elegant proportions. At a mere 46 ¼ inches high and 28 inches wide the little desk seemed almost too small for anyone to actually sit in front of and write.
Secrétaire à abattant, Stamped by P. Roussel
The glossy cover photo of the Gazette was taken at close-up range in three-quarter pose and had given the impression of a monumental piece. The secrétaire was a rarity, veneered in Coromandel lacquer, named after the southern coast of India through which the luxurious material was imported from China by the Compagnie des Indes from the early 17th century. The thick type of lacquer is composed of a mixture of lime, clay and varnish applied to a lacquered panel. The relief is then directly carved into this layer and decorated with colorful pigments which contrast the black background.
Coromandel lacquer was much more difficult to manipulate after having been detached from pre-existing Chinese cabinets and screens (see Paris Art Market Buzz October 9 2009 ) hence relatively few pieces of European furniture bearing such a veneer are known. The well-documented catalogue cites just three commodes: one conserved at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, one in the Louvre stamped by Jacques-Philippe Carel, and one stamped by the great BVRB dispersed at Artcurial from the Rossignol collection in 2005. A pair of corner-cupboards is also conserved at the Met. I recently discovered a stunning pair of monumental early Louis XV armoires veneered with Coromandel lacquer during a visit to the Cabinet des Médailles at the Bibliothèque Nationale Richelieu in Paris.
Armoire From a Pair Veneered in Coromandel Lacquer, Cabinet des Médailles Paris
Roussel executed pieces using oriental lacquer panels as well as European imitation lacquer (vernis Martin) and several were listed in the posthumous inventory of his workshop in 1783. However those in Coromandel lacquer are rare. A pair of corner cupboards sold in London on 14 May 2009 and a commode dispersed in Monaco in 2000 having belonged to the Comtesse d’Aulst (both at Christie’s) are two rare examples.
Coromandel Lacquer Commode Stamped By P. Roussel, Christie’s Monaco 2000, $242 975 (Photo : Christie’s Images)
In addition to the rarity of the little desk, its distinguished provenance from the collection of Alexander Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (1824-1895), author of La Dame aux Camélias (1848) upon which the libretto for Verdi’s La Traviata is based, and son of the Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was certain to attract additional attention.
Back at the exhibition, the auctioneer from Artcurial responsible for the department kindly agreed to open the secrétaire to reveal four fitted little drawers and a myriad of surrounding compartments veneered in tulipwood and satiné within amaranth borders. It is always revealing to witness the freshness of the colors of the veneer in the protected places of a piece of furniture which have suffered much less from the ravages of sunlight, and give a better idea of the boldness of color in the 18th century esthetic. A serpentine movement of the inside drawers and compartments provided a contrast to the rather linear shape of the overall carcass in an additional touch of refinement. I mentioned that the bold motifs of pierced rockwork in yellow on the lower portion of the secrétaire were sufficiently abstract to allow the piece to blend into even the most modern interior, and my neighbors all agreed with a sign of admiration. The bold estimate of €30 000 to €50 000 probably had us all thinking the same thing: maybe one day.
The day of the auction, one of the salon rooms had been cleared and fitted with a pristine white lectern decorated with the bold purple Artcurial logo and a wide partition in front of the many employees poised at their phones ready for bidders to call in. The sale seemed to be following a brisk pace although the chairs were far from full. Arriving just in time for lot 95 (an overly re-gilt Italian console table which went unsold) I reprimanded myself not having foreseen such a rapid pace. The auctioneer soon approached lot 129, the Roussel secrétaire and opened bidding at €15 000 kicking into action several phone bidders as well as one person in the room. The bids seemed to soar quickly to the €35 000 mark when suddenly the in-room bidder dropped out with a frustrated shake of her head. At €75 000, the battle was left to two telephone bidders who pushed the stakes up like clockwork, such that at one point the auctioneer joked that perhaps she wasn’t needed.
The pace slowed a bit when the bidding reached €89 000, finally settling at €93 000 (€115 784 including buyer’s fee), an impressive result at twice the high estimate. I wonder what the future holds for this refined little item? Artcurial is an interesting auction house, the first in France excluding Christie’s and Sotheby’s. The management recently recruited a respected auctioneer and specialist in 18th century furniture and decorative arts (formerly at Christie’s) to improve the auctions in this area, and they seem off to a great start.
Little Treasures at Drouot
The past two weeks some surprisingly rare and charming lots have emerged from the fray at Drouot. The dispersion of the contents of the Château de Montrouge by Millon & Associés presented an elegant portrait of a child, La jeune espiègle (the young imp), by François-Hubert Drouais (1727-1775), portraitist to Madame Du Barry. The picture was conserved in a Soviet collection for years, then in France, and was known mostly through engravings until now. The insouciance of the child’s expression and soft flesh tones, as well as the gesture of the right arm coquettishly holding up the back of her draping outfit bring home the artist’s mastery of this genre. The little painting fetched €118 000 at the auction, somewhat of a bargain in comparison to the outlandish prices for Modern art.
La petite espiègle, François-Hubert Drouais 1770
On the same day, Rieunier & Associés offered a precious Italian reliquary painting on amethyst (1600-1620) depicting the Immaculate Conception, bearing symbolism of the Virgin: the sun, the moon, the Gate of Heaven, the Tower of David, the lily, and roses. The Virgin is standing on the crescent of moon, symbol of chastity from the Apocalypse. The cabochons around the frame contain relics of the holy cross, Saint Lucy and others. The middle frame of transparent rock crystal creates a glowing ring of light and the translucence of the amethyst renders the Virgin weightless as if floating in the heavens. The rare curiosity made €63 000 at the auction.
Italian
Reliquary Painting on Amethyst, 1600-1620
At the same auction a pair of silver angels from a 18th century Spain bearing the Maker’s Mark of Jose Garcia Diez also came up for grabs. The little putti seem to have once been part of a larger monument as they are both gesturing towards some mysterious central subject. I am always surprised at the quantity of religious objects that pass through auction and wonder under which circumstances they were removed from their original sanctuaries. The little angels frozen in time in their graceful positions didn’t seem to mind. They attained €38 000.
Silver
Angel From A Pair, Spain 18th Century
