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Lot Essay
This magnificent and highly prized lapis lazuli tazza is first described in an undated and unaddressed shipping list in the Hamilton archive (Hamilton MSS Misc. M12.30). Like the preceding lot in this sale and the other schatzkammer hardstones from Hamilton Palace, this tazza was presumably dispersed during the various Revolutionary sales, brought together by a Parisian marchand-mercier and remounted by a leading ciseleur-doreur, such as Pierre-Philippe Thomire or François Remond, in the prevailing Neo-classical taste, presumably with the express intention of selling it en bloc to the richest market in the 1790s, the Imperial Court of Russia.
THE RARITY OF LAPIS LAZULI OBJECTS IN 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY INVENTORIES
The fluted basin of the Hamilton lapis tazza stylistically dates from circa 1600 and echoes the lapidary masterpieces purchased by Louis XIV, his son the Grand Dauphin and Cardinal Mazarin. However, the scale of the Hamilton tazza – with a diameter of 26.5 cm - as well as its depth of colour, is of great rarity and perhaps unique.
The principal reason for lapis lazuli’s historic rarity is that it came from so far away – Sar-e-Sang in Afghanistan - and with no other nearer mines, it has been prized since antiquity. Interestingly, only one type was sought after: the dense blue with gold powder (called "the male one" in French Dictionaries), while the pale white variety was largely rejected. In early inventories, carved objects in lapis lazuli executed mainly in Milan and Rome were very rare and expensive, valued between 10 and 50 pistoles each (100-500 livres), the grande nef of the Dauphin being valued at the huge price of 350 pistoles (3500 livres). In Louis XIV’s collections, out of more than 700 hardstone objects (350 jasper and agate vases, 384 rock crystal pieces), only 14 were made of lapis – and these were predominantly small cups ("tasses rondes ou ovales") between 10 to 15 cm. wide, some being shell-shaped and the only comparable large scale example to this lot being the "grande nef" de lapis, which is now in the Louvre.
RANDON DE BOISSET’S LAPIS TAZZA
The Hamilton lapis tazza - being 26.5 cm. diameter and 4 cm. high overall - is almost certainly that first described with different mounts in the sale of the celebrated collections of Randon de Boisset on 27 February 1777. References to lapis objects in 18th Century sale catalogues are extremely rare. Apart from a vase in the Watteville sale in 1779, the only piece of this scale - which appears to be identical in both size and design - is that which Randon de Boisset is thought to have brought back from Rome and had mounted in Paris.
This same lapis tazza was resold again in the Boileau sale on 4th March 1782 and again for a third time in the Le Brun sale of 11 April 1791. Such was the rarity and value of so precious a specimen that - even though it was richly mounted by Randon de Boisset ("socle à trois enfants richement ciselé et doré") and fetched a huge price on both occasions - in the following decade it was again re-mounted, presumably by the dealer Le Brun, this time in the latest Neo-Classical fashion in "or mat", the matt mercury gilding introduced by Pierre Gouthière.
The catalogue descriptions in both the Randon de Boisset sale and the Le Brun sale underline the suitability of such an extraordinary lapis object to be placed dans le trésor d’un souverain. However it is unlikely that the ormolu mounts added by Le Brun between the 1782 and 1792 sales are still those on the Hamilton tazza to this day. Whilst the chimères mentioned could refer to the recumbent lion feet, only 3 rather than 4 are noted. There is also no mention of the lower oval lapis plaque. Finally, it is measured as 6 pouces high in the Le Brun sale, which seems too short.
It is also possible that the purchaser in the Le Brun 1792 sale further enriched the piece by adding the oval lapis plaque to the base. It is interesting to note, therefore, that the next lot in the Le Brun sale was a lapis cup on an oval plaque of lapis.
The tazza itself was acquired back by the dealer Le Brun, whilst the following lot was bought by another fellow marchand, Julliot. It is possible that the marchands-merciers would have done the same again to enrich it in 1791, to accord to the tastes of an Imperial Russian patron. The French market was struggling for obvious reasons, and the only outlets for the French luxury trade were England, the Spanish Royal court and Russia.
THE LAPIDARIST’S ART
Reputedly bought back from Italy by Randon de Boisset, presumably in 1762-3, the Hamilton lapis tazza could certainly have been carved in the lapidary workshops in either Rome, Florence or Milan. The dazzling gold inclusions, streaks of light blue running through the stone and the delicately carved fluted borders of the basin all bear comparison to a lapis bowl from the cabinet of Louis XIV now in the Musée National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris that was carved in Florence at the end of the 16th century.
THE MOUNTS: PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE OR FRANCOIS REMOND
The superbly chased mounts, executed by a master ciseleur-doreur, are of great technical virtuosity and executed in d’or mat. The overall tripod form with entwined serpent and spirally-twisted ribbons closely recalls the documented oeuvre of Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1732-1832) – as can be seen on the pair of tripod breccia marble vases in the Wallace Collection (F342-3), a pair of green jade coupes supplied by Daguerre to the Princesse Kinsky in 1786 (now in the Louvre) and the celebrated Sèvres vases/ jardinières in the Royal Collection at Windsor, the J. Paul Getty Museum, as well as that sold in the Boulle to Jansen collection, Christie’s London, 11 July 2003, lot 10.
By contrast, the distinctive eagle’s head terminals and tasseled fringes recall the production of François Rémond (d. 1812), one of the foremost doreur sur metaux of the Louis XVI period. Like Thomire, Rémond also collaborated extensively with Daguerre, to whom he supplied work between 1778 and 1792 valued at the staggering sum of 920,000 livres – and these same eagle’s head terminals featured on candelabra designs also supplied by Daguerre for the Princess Kinsky (see C. Baulez in 'Le Luminaire de la Princesse Kinsky', L'Objet d'Art, May 1991, pp. 84-99).
Like lot 5 in this sale, this tazza appears on the Duke of Hamilton's 'Russian Lists'.
As the Russian lists are thought to date from 1806-7, they pre-date the financial inheritance that came with both Hamilton’s succession to the Dukedom in 1819 as well as his marriage to William Beckford’s daughter, Susan Euphemia, in 1810. It seems likely that these highly expensive treasures were thus a diplomatic gift to the Ambassador - before he had inherited the means to lavish money on precious works of art.
THE RARITY OF LAPIS LAZULI OBJECTS IN 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY INVENTORIES
The fluted basin of the Hamilton lapis tazza stylistically dates from circa 1600 and echoes the lapidary masterpieces purchased by Louis XIV, his son the Grand Dauphin and Cardinal Mazarin. However, the scale of the Hamilton tazza – with a diameter of 26.5 cm - as well as its depth of colour, is of great rarity and perhaps unique.
The principal reason for lapis lazuli’s historic rarity is that it came from so far away – Sar-e-Sang in Afghanistan - and with no other nearer mines, it has been prized since antiquity. Interestingly, only one type was sought after: the dense blue with gold powder (called "the male one" in French Dictionaries), while the pale white variety was largely rejected. In early inventories, carved objects in lapis lazuli executed mainly in Milan and Rome were very rare and expensive, valued between 10 and 50 pistoles each (100-500 livres), the grande nef of the Dauphin being valued at the huge price of 350 pistoles (3500 livres). In Louis XIV’s collections, out of more than 700 hardstone objects (350 jasper and agate vases, 384 rock crystal pieces), only 14 were made of lapis – and these were predominantly small cups ("tasses rondes ou ovales") between 10 to 15 cm. wide, some being shell-shaped and the only comparable large scale example to this lot being the "grande nef" de lapis, which is now in the Louvre.
RANDON DE BOISSET’S LAPIS TAZZA
The Hamilton lapis tazza - being 26.5 cm. diameter and 4 cm. high overall - is almost certainly that first described with different mounts in the sale of the celebrated collections of Randon de Boisset on 27 February 1777. References to lapis objects in 18th Century sale catalogues are extremely rare. Apart from a vase in the Watteville sale in 1779, the only piece of this scale - which appears to be identical in both size and design - is that which Randon de Boisset is thought to have brought back from Rome and had mounted in Paris.
This same lapis tazza was resold again in the Boileau sale on 4th March 1782 and again for a third time in the Le Brun sale of 11 April 1791. Such was the rarity and value of so precious a specimen that - even though it was richly mounted by Randon de Boisset ("socle à trois enfants richement ciselé et doré") and fetched a huge price on both occasions - in the following decade it was again re-mounted, presumably by the dealer Le Brun, this time in the latest Neo-Classical fashion in "or mat", the matt mercury gilding introduced by Pierre Gouthière.
The catalogue descriptions in both the Randon de Boisset sale and the Le Brun sale underline the suitability of such an extraordinary lapis object to be placed dans le trésor d’un souverain. However it is unlikely that the ormolu mounts added by Le Brun between the 1782 and 1792 sales are still those on the Hamilton tazza to this day. Whilst the chimères mentioned could refer to the recumbent lion feet, only 3 rather than 4 are noted. There is also no mention of the lower oval lapis plaque. Finally, it is measured as 6 pouces high in the Le Brun sale, which seems too short.
It is also possible that the purchaser in the Le Brun 1792 sale further enriched the piece by adding the oval lapis plaque to the base. It is interesting to note, therefore, that the next lot in the Le Brun sale was a lapis cup on an oval plaque of lapis.
The tazza itself was acquired back by the dealer Le Brun, whilst the following lot was bought by another fellow marchand, Julliot. It is possible that the marchands-merciers would have done the same again to enrich it in 1791, to accord to the tastes of an Imperial Russian patron. The French market was struggling for obvious reasons, and the only outlets for the French luxury trade were England, the Spanish Royal court and Russia.
THE LAPIDARIST’S ART
Reputedly bought back from Italy by Randon de Boisset, presumably in 1762-3, the Hamilton lapis tazza could certainly have been carved in the lapidary workshops in either Rome, Florence or Milan. The dazzling gold inclusions, streaks of light blue running through the stone and the delicately carved fluted borders of the basin all bear comparison to a lapis bowl from the cabinet of Louis XIV now in the Musée National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris that was carved in Florence at the end of the 16th century.
THE MOUNTS: PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE OR FRANCOIS REMOND
The superbly chased mounts, executed by a master ciseleur-doreur, are of great technical virtuosity and executed in d’or mat. The overall tripod form with entwined serpent and spirally-twisted ribbons closely recalls the documented oeuvre of Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1732-1832) – as can be seen on the pair of tripod breccia marble vases in the Wallace Collection (F342-3), a pair of green jade coupes supplied by Daguerre to the Princesse Kinsky in 1786 (now in the Louvre) and the celebrated Sèvres vases/ jardinières in the Royal Collection at Windsor, the J. Paul Getty Museum, as well as that sold in the Boulle to Jansen collection, Christie’s London, 11 July 2003, lot 10.
By contrast, the distinctive eagle’s head terminals and tasseled fringes recall the production of François Rémond (d. 1812), one of the foremost doreur sur metaux of the Louis XVI period. Like Thomire, Rémond also collaborated extensively with Daguerre, to whom he supplied work between 1778 and 1792 valued at the staggering sum of 920,000 livres – and these same eagle’s head terminals featured on candelabra designs also supplied by Daguerre for the Princess Kinsky (see C. Baulez in 'Le Luminaire de la Princesse Kinsky', L'Objet d'Art, May 1991, pp. 84-99).
Like lot 5 in this sale, this tazza appears on the Duke of Hamilton's 'Russian Lists'.
As the Russian lists are thought to date from 1806-7, they pre-date the financial inheritance that came with both Hamilton’s succession to the Dukedom in 1819 as well as his marriage to William Beckford’s daughter, Susan Euphemia, in 1810. It seems likely that these highly expensive treasures were thus a diplomatic gift to the Ambassador - before he had inherited the means to lavish money on precious works of art.