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Lot Essay
This royal coffer was made for the personal use of Marie-Antoinette and is particularly rare as it displays her coat-of-arms as Queen. These scarlet leather and gilt-tooled coffers were supplied by the royal book-binders each year to the members of the royal family; when they were considered to be too worn, they were sometimes given to members of their court. This practice ensured the coffer’s remarkable survival; it is quite possibly the largest of the scant few supplied to Marie-Antoinette that are known to exist.
The coffer was delivered by Les Menus plaisirs du Roi who were responsible for the image and perception of the monarchy and orchestrated every event that involved the monarchy or the court, including diplomatic receptions, coronations, balls, masques, ballets and plays. Every last detail, from the settings of events to costume design and diplomatic gifts were all under their control. The binding and stamping of royal books also came under their auspices which is the connection to the gilt-tooled leather royal coffers.
Although the names of some of the royal binders are known, only a few coffers have marks or names that identify their makers. The cockerel mark and initials JJ on this coffer are presumably those of the maker and intriguingly, these marks are shared by the three other coffers supplied to Marie-Antoinette. They also have very similar mounts and gilt-tooled decoration and comprise:
- One, 23 ¼ in. long, formerly in the Gontaut Biron collection exhibited at Versailles (Marie-Antoinette, Archduchesse, Dauphine, et Reine, Versailles, May-November, 1955, no.578).
- One, 24 in. long, at the Palais de Compiègne (Inv. Number OAR 300) exhibited in 2013 (see H. Delalex, A. Maral and N. Milovanovic, Marie-Antoinette, Paris, 2013, p. 51).
- One, 17 in. long, from the Earls of Rosebery-Rothschild collection; Sotheby’s, London, 10 July 1981, lot 95.
The mark of the cockerel appears on a work by the maker, Antoine Lanson, where it appears beside his initials. Despite their differing initials, this could be a link between the elusive maker of the known Marie-Antoinette caskets as Antoine Lanson is recorded as being binder to Marie-Antoinette. One such casket with the initials AL appears on a coffer for the Comtesse de Provence sold from the collection of Akram Ojjeh; Sotheby’s, Monaco 25 June 1979, lot 131. It is possible that the Lansons may have been a dynasty of binders as an earlier coffer for Louis, Dauphin of France (1729-1765) and the Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain (1726-1746), as dauphine from circa 1745 also has the cockerel mark which is flanked by the letter 'L’. It was sold anonymously at Christie’s, London, 6 July 2016, lot 8.
A much greater number of coffers exist for other members of the royal family, and in particular those made by or attributed to Pierre Vente. He was made ‘relieur des Menus Plaisirs du Roi’ in 1753 and of Mesdames, aunts of Louis XVI. They include one from the collection of Jean-Louis Remilleux and formerly in the collection of the Comte and Comtesse Niel sold at Christie’s, Paris, 28-29 September 2015, lot 400 and another formerly in the collection of Arturo Lopez-Wilshaw and sold anonymously at Christie’s, London, 4 July 2017, lot 3. A third example was sold anonymously at Christie’s, New York, 22 November, lot 249.
The coffer was delivered by Les Menus plaisirs du Roi who were responsible for the image and perception of the monarchy and orchestrated every event that involved the monarchy or the court, including diplomatic receptions, coronations, balls, masques, ballets and plays. Every last detail, from the settings of events to costume design and diplomatic gifts were all under their control. The binding and stamping of royal books also came under their auspices which is the connection to the gilt-tooled leather royal coffers.
Although the names of some of the royal binders are known, only a few coffers have marks or names that identify their makers. The cockerel mark and initials JJ on this coffer are presumably those of the maker and intriguingly, these marks are shared by the three other coffers supplied to Marie-Antoinette. They also have very similar mounts and gilt-tooled decoration and comprise:
- One, 23 ¼ in. long, formerly in the Gontaut Biron collection exhibited at Versailles (Marie-Antoinette, Archduchesse, Dauphine, et Reine, Versailles, May-November, 1955, no.578).
- One, 24 in. long, at the Palais de Compiègne (Inv. Number OAR 300) exhibited in 2013 (see H. Delalex, A. Maral and N. Milovanovic, Marie-Antoinette, Paris, 2013, p. 51).
- One, 17 in. long, from the Earls of Rosebery-Rothschild collection; Sotheby’s, London, 10 July 1981, lot 95.
The mark of the cockerel appears on a work by the maker, Antoine Lanson, where it appears beside his initials. Despite their differing initials, this could be a link between the elusive maker of the known Marie-Antoinette caskets as Antoine Lanson is recorded as being binder to Marie-Antoinette. One such casket with the initials AL appears on a coffer for the Comtesse de Provence sold from the collection of Akram Ojjeh; Sotheby’s, Monaco 25 June 1979, lot 131. It is possible that the Lansons may have been a dynasty of binders as an earlier coffer for Louis, Dauphin of France (1729-1765) and the Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain (1726-1746), as dauphine from circa 1745 also has the cockerel mark which is flanked by the letter 'L’. It was sold anonymously at Christie’s, London, 6 July 2016, lot 8.
A much greater number of coffers exist for other members of the royal family, and in particular those made by or attributed to Pierre Vente. He was made ‘relieur des Menus Plaisirs du Roi’ in 1753 and of Mesdames, aunts of Louis XVI. They include one from the collection of Jean-Louis Remilleux and formerly in the collection of the Comte and Comtesse Niel sold at Christie’s, Paris, 28-29 September 2015, lot 400 and another formerly in the collection of Arturo Lopez-Wilshaw and sold anonymously at Christie’s, London, 4 July 2017, lot 3. A third example was sold anonymously at Christie’s, New York, 22 November, lot 249.