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Lot Essay
THE DESIGN OF THE FIGURES BY BOIZOT
The lyrical and beautifully cast figures of Zephyr and Flora and Love and Friendship ('Zéphyr et Flore' and ' L'Amour et l'Amitié') on these superb candelabra are based on designs by Louis-Simon Boizot (1743-1809), Sculpteur du roi and Directeur de l'atelier de Sculpture à la Manufacture de Sèvres, who in 1773 supplied the bronzier Pierre Gouthière with plaster models of this subject (illustrated here). These were intended to be cast in silver as candelabra (but apparently never executed) as part of the lavish furnishing scheme for Madame du Barry at the Château de Louveciennes- Boizot also produced other versions in biscuit porcelain for Sèvres.
The model, known as a 'girandole Boizot', continued to be influential later in the Louis XVI period, as revealed by its appearance on a fascinating and remarkably finished drawing in the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, dated 1790, depicting a series of designs for bronzes d'ameublement by Jean-Demosthène Dugourc, including two candelabra with the same figures but with differing arms to show possible variants, which is thought to have been a presentation drawing for a prospective client, perhaps a foreign court as it specifies that the dimensions are in 'pieds de France' ('French feet'). Dugourc was one of the most influential dessinateurs in the goût étrusque, and his brother-in-law, the architect François Bélanger, worked with Gouthière for some of his most important clients, notably the duc d'Aumont and the duchesse de Mazarin. Interestingly the console in this drawing relates to the famous bleu turquin console supplied to the duchesse de Mazarin with bronzes by Gouthière, now in The Frick Collection, New York (see A. Forray-Carlier, Gouthière's Network of Architects and Designers, in C. Vignon and C. Baulez, Pierre Gouthière, Virtuoso Gilder at the French Court, exh. cat., New York, 2016, pp. 82-4).
A further intriguing link to Gouthière is revealed by the fact that in 1791 the comte d'Angivillier offered a pair of this model, presumably with figures of Sèvres biscuit porcelain, to 'M. Gouthière, compositeur des girandoles nommé Boizot et {qui} a fait présent du modèle la Manufacture'. Christian Baulez, in the catalogue for the 2002 exhibition Louis-Simon Boizot at the Musée Lambinet, Versailles, suggests that Gouthière also created versions in bronze, which may have been of the same model as that offered here (see exh. cat., p. 275). It is tempting therefore to suggest that Gouthière may even have produced the remarkable candelabra offered here, although it must also be noted that Boizot also collaborated with other accomplished bronziers of the time such as Pierre-Philippe Thomire and François Rémond (see Baulez op. cit., pp. 278-292).
THE PROVENANCE
Although it is not known when these candelabra were originally acquired, they almost certainly formed part of the fabled collections of French furniture, paintings and works of art assembled over three generations which formed the nucleus of the Wallace Collection. Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford, (1800-70), spent much of his life in Paris where he was brought up by his mother who had moved to Paris in 1802 following her estrangement from his father (later the 3rd Marquess of Hertford) . Upon the death of the 3rd Marquess he inherited a vast art collection to which he continued to add, particularly following his purchase of the Château de Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne. Despite his nationality, title and English estates the 4th Marquess would live out most of his life in his apartment on the rue Lafitte, Paris, as one of the richest men in Europe. Upon his death in 1870 all of his unentailed wealth passed to his unacknowledged illegitimate son, Sir Richard Wallace Bt.,(1818-90) who inherited not only his father's vast French collections but the Château de Bagatelle and his apartment in the rue Laffitte. Wallace, also, a renowned collector, would continue to add to one of the most significant collections of European decorative arts ever assembled. Wallace died in 1890 leaving all his property to his wife, Lady Wallace (1818-97), and it was upon her death that the collection at Hertford House was left to the nation and Hertford House was opened to the public. The remaining collection at rue Laffitte and at the Château de Bagatelle, which also contained many exceptional works of art, were bequeathed to her secretary, Sir John Murray Scott Bt.,(1847-1912) and upon his death, he left the collection at the rue Laffitte apartment to his friend Lady Sackville who sold the collection in its entirely in 1914 to the legendary Parisian dealer Jacques Seligman. The remainder of the works of art in London which Murray Scott inherited were sold at Christie's following his death in 1912. Interestingly another pair of candelabra of virtually the same model but with a basket of flowers rather than the classical urn being held aloft by the figures, and lacking any swags to the pedestal, was also part of the Murray Scott collection, and subsequently sold again from the collection of the dealer George Durlacher, Christie's, London, 6-7 April 1938, lot 100 (previously thought to be the same as the candelabra offered here, according to the Wallace Collection catalogue cited above).
The lyrical and beautifully cast figures of Zephyr and Flora and Love and Friendship ('Zéphyr et Flore' and ' L'Amour et l'Amitié') on these superb candelabra are based on designs by Louis-Simon Boizot (1743-1809), Sculpteur du roi and Directeur de l'atelier de Sculpture à la Manufacture de Sèvres, who in 1773 supplied the bronzier Pierre Gouthière with plaster models of this subject (illustrated here). These were intended to be cast in silver as candelabra (but apparently never executed) as part of the lavish furnishing scheme for Madame du Barry at the Château de Louveciennes- Boizot also produced other versions in biscuit porcelain for Sèvres.
The model, known as a 'girandole Boizot', continued to be influential later in the Louis XVI period, as revealed by its appearance on a fascinating and remarkably finished drawing in the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, dated 1790, depicting a series of designs for bronzes d'ameublement by Jean-Demosthène Dugourc, including two candelabra with the same figures but with differing arms to show possible variants, which is thought to have been a presentation drawing for a prospective client, perhaps a foreign court as it specifies that the dimensions are in 'pieds de France' ('French feet'). Dugourc was one of the most influential dessinateurs in the goût étrusque, and his brother-in-law, the architect François Bélanger, worked with Gouthière for some of his most important clients, notably the duc d'Aumont and the duchesse de Mazarin. Interestingly the console in this drawing relates to the famous bleu turquin console supplied to the duchesse de Mazarin with bronzes by Gouthière, now in The Frick Collection, New York (see A. Forray-Carlier, Gouthière's Network of Architects and Designers, in C. Vignon and C. Baulez, Pierre Gouthière, Virtuoso Gilder at the French Court, exh. cat., New York, 2016, pp. 82-4).
A further intriguing link to Gouthière is revealed by the fact that in 1791 the comte d'Angivillier offered a pair of this model, presumably with figures of Sèvres biscuit porcelain, to 'M. Gouthière, compositeur des girandoles nommé Boizot et {qui} a fait présent du modèle la Manufacture'. Christian Baulez, in the catalogue for the 2002 exhibition Louis-Simon Boizot at the Musée Lambinet, Versailles, suggests that Gouthière also created versions in bronze, which may have been of the same model as that offered here (see exh. cat., p. 275). It is tempting therefore to suggest that Gouthière may even have produced the remarkable candelabra offered here, although it must also be noted that Boizot also collaborated with other accomplished bronziers of the time such as Pierre-Philippe Thomire and François Rémond (see Baulez op. cit., pp. 278-292).
THE PROVENANCE
Although it is not known when these candelabra were originally acquired, they almost certainly formed part of the fabled collections of French furniture, paintings and works of art assembled over three generations which formed the nucleus of the Wallace Collection. Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford, (1800-70), spent much of his life in Paris where he was brought up by his mother who had moved to Paris in 1802 following her estrangement from his father (later the 3rd Marquess of Hertford) . Upon the death of the 3rd Marquess he inherited a vast art collection to which he continued to add, particularly following his purchase of the Château de Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne. Despite his nationality, title and English estates the 4th Marquess would live out most of his life in his apartment on the rue Lafitte, Paris, as one of the richest men in Europe. Upon his death in 1870 all of his unentailed wealth passed to his unacknowledged illegitimate son, Sir Richard Wallace Bt.,(1818-90) who inherited not only his father's vast French collections but the Château de Bagatelle and his apartment in the rue Laffitte. Wallace, also, a renowned collector, would continue to add to one of the most significant collections of European decorative arts ever assembled. Wallace died in 1890 leaving all his property to his wife, Lady Wallace (1818-97), and it was upon her death that the collection at Hertford House was left to the nation and Hertford House was opened to the public. The remaining collection at rue Laffitte and at the Château de Bagatelle, which also contained many exceptional works of art, were bequeathed to her secretary, Sir John Murray Scott Bt.,(1847-1912) and upon his death, he left the collection at the rue Laffitte apartment to his friend Lady Sackville who sold the collection in its entirely in 1914 to the legendary Parisian dealer Jacques Seligman. The remainder of the works of art in London which Murray Scott inherited were sold at Christie's following his death in 1912. Interestingly another pair of candelabra of virtually the same model but with a basket of flowers rather than the classical urn being held aloft by the figures, and lacking any swags to the pedestal, was also part of the Murray Scott collection, and subsequently sold again from the collection of the dealer George Durlacher, Christie's, London, 6-7 April 1938, lot 100 (previously thought to be the same as the candelabra offered here, according to the Wallace Collection catalogue cited above).