PIERRE-ÉDOUARD DAGOTY (FRENCH, 1775-1871)

Pierre-François Guestier (1793-1874) was a Bordeaux wine merchant, French peer and mayor of Saint-Julien. In 1825 he became the owner of Château Beychevelle and its estate of over 250 hectares of land which produced wine, cork, pinewood and wheat. On the estate Guestier set up a stables for thoroughbred horses, known as the Ecurie Guestier. The stables produced a generation of champion thoroughbreds, for which he was elected member of the Jockey Club in Paris.
In 1830 Guestier hosted the Dukes of Aumale and Nemours at a banquet at the Château following the ascension of King Louis-Philippe to the French throne. During the meal a toast was made to 'the best king' and the Dukes, in response, toasted 'the best wine'.
Guestier and his family remained at Beychevelle until he was forced, for financial reasons, to sell the estate in 1874. It sold for 1.6m francs to Armand Heine, a Parisian banker.

Special Notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Provenance

By descent from the sitter to his great-great-grandson Guy Schÿler-Schröder (1910-1997), Bordeaux.
His wife, née Nicole Wallace (1919-2007), Bordeaux, great-granddaughter of Sir Richard Wallace.
Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 9 April 2008, lot 126 (sitter unidentified).

Literature

J. Du Pasquier, Pierre-Edouard Dagoty 1775-1871 et la miniature bordelaise au XIXe siècle, Chartres, 1974, illustrated p. 172, fig. 29.
La Gazette de l'Hôtel Drouot, 4 April 2008, p. 43, illustrated in colour (sitter unidentified).