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Lot Essay
Le gout a la turc, in which these superb candelabra are fashioned, grew out of a taste for neoclassical decoration, with addition of turbaned figures, camels, crescents, pearls and a variety of further Ottoman attributes. The European fascination for the exotic of the East, particularly the Ottoman Empire, was further spurred by the translation of Antoine Galland's Mille et une nuits, publish between 1707 and 1717, as well as the Lettres Persannes de Montesquieu (1721) and Voltaire's Play Mahomet (1736) and the idea of an exquisite and voluptuous Orient and Turquerie was further inspired later in the 18th century by such fashionable opera, as 'Achmet and Almazine', the 'Three Sultanas', and 'Zemire and Azor', all of which were performed at the French Court in the 1770's.
The principal actor for the vogue of this new taste in Paris was Queen Marie-Antoinette herself, as well as her brother-in-law, the Comte d'Artois, who ordered the first Cabinet a la turc to be installed at his sumptuous Paris residence, the Palais du Temple. The few objects still surviving from this cabinet include a set of chairs, now at the Louvre (oa 9987 and following) which are decorated evocating an Ottoman camp. The Comte d'Artois was soon followed by Marie Antoinette, who in 1777 ordered a cabinet for Fontainebleau (still surviving) and a few years later also one for her apartements at Versaille. In Vienna, the Imperial family was similarly fascinated by the Oriental taste and several portraits show both Empress Maria Theresa, and her father, Charles VI, in Ottoman costume. Several of the portraits were painted by Jean Etienne Liotard, probably for the occasion of the 'Entrée in Orientalischer Tracht'. A room, entirely decorated with Indian-Persian miniatures, was installed at Castle Schönbrun, but dismantled following Charles VI's death, to be succeeded by a Chinese room.
When the candelabra were sold at Christie's on 8 May 1902 they came from the collection of Ernest William Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe (1856-1917), who was a banker in Leeds and married to the American Lucy Lee, herself daughter of a partner in the American bank Pierpont Morgan. The candelabra were purchased by the famous art dealers and agents Durlacher, who had been established in London since 1843 and in 1920 also opened a branch in New York. Durlacher is recorded to have sold to Pierpont Morgan, Sir Richard Wallace, but also the V&A Museum, and it is likely that Ogden Mills acquired the candelabra in Durlacher's London or New York galleries.
The principal actor for the vogue of this new taste in Paris was Queen Marie-Antoinette herself, as well as her brother-in-law, the Comte d'Artois, who ordered the first Cabinet a la turc to be installed at his sumptuous Paris residence, the Palais du Temple. The few objects still surviving from this cabinet include a set of chairs, now at the Louvre (oa 9987 and following) which are decorated evocating an Ottoman camp. The Comte d'Artois was soon followed by Marie Antoinette, who in 1777 ordered a cabinet for Fontainebleau (still surviving) and a few years later also one for her apartements at Versaille. In Vienna, the Imperial family was similarly fascinated by the Oriental taste and several portraits show both Empress Maria Theresa, and her father, Charles VI, in Ottoman costume. Several of the portraits were painted by Jean Etienne Liotard, probably for the occasion of the 'Entrée in Orientalischer Tracht'. A room, entirely decorated with Indian-Persian miniatures, was installed at Castle Schönbrun, but dismantled following Charles VI's death, to be succeeded by a Chinese room.
When the candelabra were sold at Christie's on 8 May 1902 they came from the collection of Ernest William Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe (1856-1917), who was a banker in Leeds and married to the American Lucy Lee, herself daughter of a partner in the American bank Pierpont Morgan. The candelabra were purchased by the famous art dealers and agents Durlacher, who had been established in London since 1843 and in 1920 also opened a branch in New York. Durlacher is recorded to have sold to Pierpont Morgan, Sir Richard Wallace, but also the V&A Museum, and it is likely that Ogden Mills acquired the candelabra in Durlacher's London or New York galleries.