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FRANCE "All lovers of daguerreotypes are spellbound beings" - so remarked Grant Romer with reference to the book, Secrets of the Dark Chamber. Undoubtedly all lovers of Girault de Prangey's unique daguerreotypes will wonder who was the man behind the dark chamber? To acquaint ourselves with Girault de Prangey we have to let the plates talk to us. The first subjects to attract Girault de Prangey as a photographer in 1841 were his home and the landscape of the surrounding area (see lot 3). From here he ventured to the cities of his native Burgundy and to Paris, where he first made daguerreotypes in 1841. Unsurprisingly, his primary theme was the most celebrated monuments of the capital, especially the Cathedral of Notre Dame, which appears to have accounted for half of his output from the city. He also made photographs of the Tour St. Jacques, the Palais des Tuileries (see lot 2) and of the frozen fountain of the Chateau d'Eau (see lot 1). The series of Notre Dame views in the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, introduces the notion of the artist assembling a visual inventory of his subject, rather than simply choosing a single preferred view, which might be considered more typical. The views of the frozen fountain and of the trees and rocks on his estate often reveal a more picturesque approach, less obviously concerned with the descriptive clarity he sought in his architectural photographs. He also made daguerreotypes in Langres, Chaumont, Troyes and Marseille.

JOSEPH-PHILIBERT GIRAULT DE PRANGEY

Untitled [The frozen fountain of the Chateau d'Eau]

Details

JOSEPH-PHILIBERT GIRAULT DE PRANGEY
Untitled [The frozen fountain of the Chateau d'Eau]
Daguerreotype. n.d.[1842]
3¾ x 4¾in. (9.4 x 12cm.)

Literature

See: Paris Musées (Ed.), Paris et le Daguerréotype, p. 159 and p. 240, Quettier, P. et al., Sur les Traces de Girault de Prangey 1804-1892, p. 107 and Frizot, M. et al, A New History of Photography, p. 35, for reproductions of two variant images of the same subject. See: Gernsheim, L.J.M. Daguerre The History of the Diorama and the Daguerreotype, pl. 16, for an illustration showing the fountain in front of the Diorama.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

The most magical subject by far from the small series of Parisian architectural studies made by Girault de Prangey in 1841 and early 1842. The frozen fountain glints in the sunlight, sparkling in a fairy-tale winter scene that encapsulates the romantic image of the city, even today. A low viewpoint has been used, which raises the plume of icy water above the Paris rooftops, allowing it to be clearly defined against the sky. It simultaneously enhances the impression of the height of the fountain and the dramatic mass of the ice encrusting it.

The fountain of the Chateau d'Eau, here almost invisible under its cloak of ice, was designed by Girard in 1811. It had three shallow basins protected by eight lions and was originally situated on the boulevard Saint-Martin near the rue de Bondy. The surrounding area has special associations with photography: in 1822, Daguerre's Diorama was built opposite it, on the rue Sanson. After the Diorama burned down in 1839, Daguerre himself lived at 17, boulevard Saint-Martin. The fountain was moved in 1867.

Only four daguerreotypes by Girault de Prangey have been recorded of this subject, of which two are in the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, donated by the Comte de Simony in 1950. Each of these is titled and dated 1842.

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