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Lot Essay
These French scenic wallpaper panels (papiers-peints) are part of a series of twelve scenes, ‘Psyche and Cupid’, printed in grisaille from woodblocks, on paper, and produced by Desfossé & Karth of 223 Faubourg St. Antoine, Paris, who reissued the series five times between 1862 and 1931, a testament to its popularity. From the mid-19th century forward, French wallpapers were created with increasingly ambitious design and productions, epitomising luxury and elegance. Contrary to most scenic wallpapers, which were designed as a continuous sequence, the present panels comprise a number of scenes and single panels to be framed separately.
The designs for the panels are almost certainly by Louis Lafitte (d. 1828), a draughtsman in the Cabinet du Roi, who subsequently worked for Napoléon. In 1814-1816, Lafitte worked with Merry-Joseph Blondel (d. 1853) on an ensemble of drawings in grey and sepia portraying the history of Psyche and Cupid (the subject inspired by the novel by Jean de la Fontaine, Les Amours de Psyche et de Cupidon, published in 1669). The panels were initially produced in a series of 26 lengths by Dufour et Cie, of rue Beauvau, Paris circa 1816, and were the finest series produced by the firm. Dufour employed Christophe Xavier Mader, a designer and skilled engraver, to redraw the original Lafitte and Blondel designs for the block cutter. Mader’s skill is evident in the study of modelling and effect, and the subtle use of sepia with white highlights that brighten the architecture, clarify the backgrounds and give life to the figures in his designs. An early Dufour example of the wallpaper panels was displayed at the Exposition des Produits de l’Industrie in 1810 (Ed. L. Hoskins, The Papered Wall, London, 1994, p. 104). The firm was later taken over by Desfossé and Karth who continued to use the original Mader wood blocks to reissue the set, almost certainly including the present example.
Desfossé & Karth did not issue a catalogue but held a portfolio of photogravures for their clients to view. In the early 20th century, the firm described their wallpaper as ‘Workmanship is the prime factor – the price is a secondary consideration’. At the 1855 Exposition universelle, Paris, Desfossé was awarded a silver medal for another series of wallpaper panels, Armida’s Garden. The firm presented a remarkable and novel display recruiting the help of leading painters and sculptors to raise their wallpaper to the level of high art. Seven scenes from the set are in the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (W.174, 175-1967), and four scenes in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (E.696-1937).
The designs for the panels are almost certainly by Louis Lafitte (d. 1828), a draughtsman in the Cabinet du Roi, who subsequently worked for Napoléon. In 1814-1816, Lafitte worked with Merry-Joseph Blondel (d. 1853) on an ensemble of drawings in grey and sepia portraying the history of Psyche and Cupid (the subject inspired by the novel by Jean de la Fontaine, Les Amours de Psyche et de Cupidon, published in 1669). The panels were initially produced in a series of 26 lengths by Dufour et Cie, of rue Beauvau, Paris circa 1816, and were the finest series produced by the firm. Dufour employed Christophe Xavier Mader, a designer and skilled engraver, to redraw the original Lafitte and Blondel designs for the block cutter. Mader’s skill is evident in the study of modelling and effect, and the subtle use of sepia with white highlights that brighten the architecture, clarify the backgrounds and give life to the figures in his designs. An early Dufour example of the wallpaper panels was displayed at the Exposition des Produits de l’Industrie in 1810 (Ed. L. Hoskins, The Papered Wall, London, 1994, p. 104). The firm was later taken over by Desfossé and Karth who continued to use the original Mader wood blocks to reissue the set, almost certainly including the present example.
Desfossé & Karth did not issue a catalogue but held a portfolio of photogravures for their clients to view. In the early 20th century, the firm described their wallpaper as ‘Workmanship is the prime factor – the price is a secondary consideration’. At the 1855 Exposition universelle, Paris, Desfossé was awarded a silver medal for another series of wallpaper panels, Armida’s Garden. The firm presented a remarkable and novel display recruiting the help of leading painters and sculptors to raise their wallpaper to the level of high art. Seven scenes from the set are in the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (W.174, 175-1967), and four scenes in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (E.696-1937).