.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This tureen, known as tureen 'B', together with its pair now in the Cleveland Museum (tureen 'A'; 1977.182), was commissioned by the Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, together with a surtout and candlesticks, from 1733 and was finally delivered in 1738. This magnificent work of art is a celebrated masterpiece, one of a handful of surviving works by Meissonnier, who as a goldsmith, designer and aspiring architect is regarded as 'Un génie du rococo'.
THE KINGSTON COMMISSION
The Kingston Tureens are Meissonnier’s only thoroughly documented commission. He appears to have undertaken the initial design stages himself, and a drawing (and later engraving) of the proposed project show a centrepiece flanked by two tureens. Only the two tureens were made.
The two tureens derive their general shape from two seashells, applied on the covers and the undersides with an abundance of sculpted animals and vegetal motifs cast from natural specimens. The stands, though plain in the centre, are cast on the rim with Rococo motifs resembling raging waves. The composition must have required a vast quantity of clay and plaster models prepared by Meissonnier. Viewed independently, the tureens seem asymmetrical; however, when placed on either side of the centrepiece, as seen in the 1735 etching, they form a pyramidal composition that restores the overall balance.
The design process was undoubtedly lengthy. Meissonnier must have started work well before October 1733, when the Duke of Kingston secured a passport for 300 marcs of silver (approximately 75 kilograms) intended for the commission, which would have included the centrepiece and the tureens’ liners. The hallmarks suggest that casting began between September 1734 and September 1735, although final delivery did not occur before early October 1738.
THE HALLMARKS OF ADNET AND BONNESTRENNE
Although Meissonnier signed the tureen 'FAIT-PAR-I-A-MEISSONIER-ARCHITECTTE' clearly indicating ownership of the design, for the execution, he called upon two subcontractors: Henry-Guillaume Adnet and Pierre-François Bonnestrenne. These craftsmen were selected not only for their technical ability but also for their willingness to collaborate on an exceptionally demanding project. The involvement of these two separate workshops also helped to speed production. Both goldsmiths appear to have had an unremarkable production. Guillaume Adnet was born in 1683. He started his apprenticeship in 1698 with Nicolas Levêque before moving in 1703 to the workshop of Julien Levêque. He entered his mark in 1712. An inventory compiled after the death of his wife January 1734 describes him as a 'marchand orfèvre joaillier’ and shows that he was not wealthy. Pierre-Francois Bonnestrenne was born in 1682, the son of a huissier royal from Reims, and entered the Parisian guild of goldsmiths in 1714. Hallmarks show that Bonnestrenne made the body of tureen A and both stands, while Adnet made the body of tureen B and both covers.
The process must have been incredibly challenging given the complexity of the cast models, which could easily be broken or damaged at any time. Despite being hallmarked by two different goldsmiths, the two tureens display remarkably consistent chasing. Both show identical rows of dotted ornaments accentuating the ribs of the lids, similarly hemmed edges, comparable treatment of the peignés, and the same handling of rockwork motifs. The finish is precise, both animated and restrained. Either Meissonnier closely supervised their work or, more likely, personally executed many of the final chasing details himself.
AN EXTRAVAGANT COMMISSION FOR AN ECCENTRIC PATRON: THE DUKE OF KINGSTON
Evelyn Pierrepont was born on 3 April 1712 to William Pierrepont, Earl of Kingston, and his wife Rachel Baynton, a wealthy Wiltshire heiress. The marriage had been arranged by William’s father, Evelyn Pierrepont, then Marquess of Dorchester (1665-1726), who sought to secure the Baynton fortune for his family.
The Pierreponts were one of Nottinghamshire’s most prominent landowning families, long established at Holme Pierrepont, a village situated four miles south-east of Nottingham. William’s father, Evelyn Pierrepont, was the brother and heir of William Pierrepont, 4th Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (1662-1690). The family’s principal estate at Thoresby, in Sherwood Forest, had been acquired in 1633 by their ancestor Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston, and was remodelled and enlarged in the mid-1680s. No sooner had the rebuilding works been completed than the house was largely destroyed by a fire. The 4th Earl of Kingston, who died shortly afterwards in 1690, lived only long enough to see the mansion repaired and finally brought to completion.
The title then passed to his brother, Evelyn Pierrepont, who until that time appears to have resided primarily on the family's Wiltshire estate. He was created Marquess of Dorchester in 1706 and elevated to Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull in 1715. His son, William, Earl of Kingston, died of smallpox at the age of twenty, leaving a widow who herself died nine years later, in 1722. Their infant son, Evelyn Pierrepont, born in 1712, thus became the sole surviving heir. Orphaned at an early age, Evelyn was raised by his tyrannical grandfather, whose approach to his upbringing left the boy ill-equipped and unprepared. On 5 March 1726, the duke died unexpectedly at his London residence in Arlington Street. The title and vast family estates passed to Evelyn, who, at only fourteen years of age, suddenly found himself in possession of immense wealth and rank.
Under the provisions of his grandfather’s will, his education was entrusted to a governor, Nathan Hickman, and a tutor, Peter Platel (b. 1701), the son of the London goldsmith Pierre Platel (c. 1664-1719). Accompanied by these advisers, the young duke embarked in July 1726 on an extended Continental tour. Although he travelled as far as Rome in 1732, he spent much of his time in France, a country, and particularly its capital, for which he developed a lasting affection. During his stay in Paris, he formed an attachment to Mlle Carton, a member of the Paris Opéra chorus, who may have delayed his return to England in 1733. Upon attaining his majority, however, Kingston assumed full control of his affairs. Part of his time was spent at Thoresby, where he maintained a household on a grand scale, reportedly employing three male cooks, an exceptional confectioner, and a total domestic staff of some 110 servants.
Kingston soon returned to Paris in early 1734, probably to renew his acquaintance with Mlle. Carton. By the following year, however, he had embarked upon a more serious relationship with Madame Nicolas Vallet de La Touche, through whom he was introduced to some of the most distinguished circles in French society, probably including the Prince de Condé, one of Meissonnier’s earliest and most important patrons. This connection would help explain the circumstances surrounding the commission of the Kingston tureens, although the precise details of the order remain unknown.
Horace Walpole described Kingston as a man of limited intellect but 'of the greatest beauty, and finest person in England.' Endowed with wealth, charm, and remarkable good looks, he enjoyed considerable success in French society. His attachment to Madame de La Touche quelled any desire to return permanently to England. Nevertheless, in November 1736, apparently at the request of the Whig Prime Minister Robert Walpole, he returned to London. A week later, Madame de La Touche followed him to England, severing her ties with France. The resulting scandal ultimately led to an official decree effectively prohibiting both Kingston and his mistress from returning to France and his mistress from attending the London royal court. The couple thus settled into a relatively quiet existence, dividing their time between London and Thoresby Hall. Early in 1745, Thoresby Hall was once again destroyed by fire. Kingston nonetheless continued to reside there in temporary accommodation near the stables, even shipping his silver, which presumably included the tureens, from his property on Arlington Street in London to the estate in 1746.
Determined to restore his ancestral seat, Kingston eventually commissioned John Carr of York to design a new mansion. Construction began in 1767 and was completed in 1771 at considerable expense. While the exterior was sometimes criticised as old-fashioned, visitors admired the scale of the house, its gilded interiors, and the grandeur of its furnishings and staff.
ELIZABETH CHUDLEIGH, COUNTESS OF BRISTOL AND DUCHESS OF KINGSTON
By 1751, his long relationship with Madame de La Touche had ended, having been replaced by an attachment to Elizabeth Chudleigh (1720-1788), the celebrated Maid of Honour to Augusta, Princess of Wales. Renowned for her beauty and wit, Elizabeth became one of the leading figures of fashionable London society, remembered for her scandalous behaviour. As Kingston’s companion, and later his wife, she presided over Kingston House in Knightsbridge, whose lavish interiors were remarked upon by Horace Walpole who wrote that the house 'is not fine nor in good taste, but loaded with finery. Execrable varnished pictures, chests, cabinets, commodes, tables, stands, boxes, riding on one another's backs, and loaded with terreens, filigree, figures and everything upon earth.' Henri Hawley has suggested that among the treasures displayed there may have been Meissonnier’s tureens (Henry H. Hawley, 'Meissonnier's Silver for the Duke of Kingston', The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art, December, 1978).
Kingston and Elizabeth were married at St George’s, Hanover Square, on 8 March 1769. The duke died at Bath on 23 September 1773, aged sixty-two. His death triggered an infamous inheritance dispute when it emerged that Elizabeth had previously contracted a secret marriage with Augustus John Hervey. Accused of bigamy by Kingston’s nephew Evelyn Meadows, she was tried before the House of Lords in 1776 and found guilty. Thus, her title of Duchess of Kingston was declared invalid. Despite the scandal, she successfully defended her claim to Kingston’s estate but chose to leave England to avoid further proceedings on the part of the Meadows family. She took with her all his art collection, including his silver and the tureens. She initially settled in Calais before embarking on travels that took her to Rome, where she befriended Pope Pius VI. She sailed her private yacht to Russia, where she charmed Empress Catherine the Great, presenting the Empress with valuable works of art from Kingston’s estate. She acquired and expanded three adjoining properties in Estonia, which she renamed ‘Chudleigh’. As she grew older, she returned to France, dividing her time between Paris and her country estate at Saint-Assise, outside the capital, where she entertained French aristocrats, who continued to call her the Duchess of Kingston. She died suddenly on 26 August 1788 at Saint-Assise from an internal haemorrhage caused by a severe fit of rage.
THE FATE OF THE TUREENS SINCE 1788
Upon her death, the Pierrepont estates passed to Charles Meadows, but her expansive foreign properties, including the Saint-Assise château in France, her Roman palace, and the vast Chudleigh estate in Estonia, along with her commercial Russian vodka distillery, were liquidated or passed down according to her private French and Russian testaments. Many of her possessions remained at the Chudleigh estate she had acquired. Her collection of prized jewellery, international bankrolls, and imported English assets were aggressively targeted by various European claimants and creditors. In her will, she had bequeathed all her paintings to Empress Catherine the Great and a large diamond to the Pope. To Charles Meadows she left,
“all the communion plate which belongs to the Chapel of Thoresby and which were taken away with other vessels and sent by mistake to St. Petersburg in Russia... together with all my other gold and guilt plate whatsoever, either for the use of ornament and likewise the following plate...
One large cistern with ornaments weighing 3,606 ozq.
Two large silver vessels to put wine in with their pedestals and appur- tenances, one large covered middle piece, 362 ozs. 5 dwts.
Two large tureens with covers weighing 1,342 ozs. 5 dwts."
However, most of her works of art, including the tureens, were confiscated by her Russian creditors and sold in St. Petersburg.
The tureens next appear in the collection of Alexander Andreievitch, Prince Bezborodko (1747-1799), one of the most influential statesmen of Empress Catherine the Great’s reign and a distinguished collector. Upon Bezborodko’s death, his vast estates passed first to his brother, Count Ilya Bezborodko, and subsequently to his nephew, Count Alexander Kushelev-Bezborodko, who in turn sold the tureens to Alexander Alexandrovitch Polovtzof (1832-1909).
Polovtzoff was a Secretary of State for ten years and a close adviser to Tsar Alexander III, as well as President of the Imperial Historical Society of St. Petersburg. Following the death of his father-in-law, Baron Stieglitz, one of the richest bankers in Russia, Polovtsoff was able to indulge his passion for collecting, purchasing works both for the Stieglitz Museum and for his own celebrated collection. He also sought, unsuccessfully, to persuade the Imperial government to acquire the renowned Spitzer Collection before its dispersal in Paris in 1893.
Following Polovtsov’s death in 1909, his children discovered that much of the family fortune was tied up in industrial investments and consequently decided to sell his art collection. The sale took place at the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris on 2-4 December 1909. There, the celebrated Kingston tureens (lot 18), were purchased by the distinguished Paris dealer J. Seligmann for 176,000 gold francs. The tureens were subsequently offered for sale together at Christie’s, Geneva, 8 November 1977, as one lot acquired by Peter Zervudachi, Galerie du Lac, Vevey, Switzerland. Selling for 2.45 million Swiss Francs ($1.1 million), the tureens set the world record for a silver work of art, which stood for nearly two decades. Zervudachi separated the tureens, selling one (Tureen A) to the Cleveland Museum of Art; the other (offered here) entered the Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kaszon family trust before being sold again at Sotheby’s, New York, 13 May 1998.
THE KINGSTON COMMISSION
The Kingston Tureens are Meissonnier’s only thoroughly documented commission. He appears to have undertaken the initial design stages himself, and a drawing (and later engraving) of the proposed project show a centrepiece flanked by two tureens. Only the two tureens were made.
The two tureens derive their general shape from two seashells, applied on the covers and the undersides with an abundance of sculpted animals and vegetal motifs cast from natural specimens. The stands, though plain in the centre, are cast on the rim with Rococo motifs resembling raging waves. The composition must have required a vast quantity of clay and plaster models prepared by Meissonnier. Viewed independently, the tureens seem asymmetrical; however, when placed on either side of the centrepiece, as seen in the 1735 etching, they form a pyramidal composition that restores the overall balance.
The design process was undoubtedly lengthy. Meissonnier must have started work well before October 1733, when the Duke of Kingston secured a passport for 300 marcs of silver (approximately 75 kilograms) intended for the commission, which would have included the centrepiece and the tureens’ liners. The hallmarks suggest that casting began between September 1734 and September 1735, although final delivery did not occur before early October 1738.
THE HALLMARKS OF ADNET AND BONNESTRENNE
Although Meissonnier signed the tureen 'FAIT-PAR-I-A-MEISSONIER-ARCHITECTTE' clearly indicating ownership of the design, for the execution, he called upon two subcontractors: Henry-Guillaume Adnet and Pierre-François Bonnestrenne. These craftsmen were selected not only for their technical ability but also for their willingness to collaborate on an exceptionally demanding project. The involvement of these two separate workshops also helped to speed production. Both goldsmiths appear to have had an unremarkable production. Guillaume Adnet was born in 1683. He started his apprenticeship in 1698 with Nicolas Levêque before moving in 1703 to the workshop of Julien Levêque. He entered his mark in 1712. An inventory compiled after the death of his wife January 1734 describes him as a 'marchand orfèvre joaillier’ and shows that he was not wealthy. Pierre-Francois Bonnestrenne was born in 1682, the son of a huissier royal from Reims, and entered the Parisian guild of goldsmiths in 1714. Hallmarks show that Bonnestrenne made the body of tureen A and both stands, while Adnet made the body of tureen B and both covers.
The process must have been incredibly challenging given the complexity of the cast models, which could easily be broken or damaged at any time. Despite being hallmarked by two different goldsmiths, the two tureens display remarkably consistent chasing. Both show identical rows of dotted ornaments accentuating the ribs of the lids, similarly hemmed edges, comparable treatment of the peignés, and the same handling of rockwork motifs. The finish is precise, both animated and restrained. Either Meissonnier closely supervised their work or, more likely, personally executed many of the final chasing details himself.
AN EXTRAVAGANT COMMISSION FOR AN ECCENTRIC PATRON: THE DUKE OF KINGSTON
Evelyn Pierrepont was born on 3 April 1712 to William Pierrepont, Earl of Kingston, and his wife Rachel Baynton, a wealthy Wiltshire heiress. The marriage had been arranged by William’s father, Evelyn Pierrepont, then Marquess of Dorchester (1665-1726), who sought to secure the Baynton fortune for his family.
The Pierreponts were one of Nottinghamshire’s most prominent landowning families, long established at Holme Pierrepont, a village situated four miles south-east of Nottingham. William’s father, Evelyn Pierrepont, was the brother and heir of William Pierrepont, 4th Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (1662-1690). The family’s principal estate at Thoresby, in Sherwood Forest, had been acquired in 1633 by their ancestor Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston, and was remodelled and enlarged in the mid-1680s. No sooner had the rebuilding works been completed than the house was largely destroyed by a fire. The 4th Earl of Kingston, who died shortly afterwards in 1690, lived only long enough to see the mansion repaired and finally brought to completion.
The title then passed to his brother, Evelyn Pierrepont, who until that time appears to have resided primarily on the family's Wiltshire estate. He was created Marquess of Dorchester in 1706 and elevated to Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull in 1715. His son, William, Earl of Kingston, died of smallpox at the age of twenty, leaving a widow who herself died nine years later, in 1722. Their infant son, Evelyn Pierrepont, born in 1712, thus became the sole surviving heir. Orphaned at an early age, Evelyn was raised by his tyrannical grandfather, whose approach to his upbringing left the boy ill-equipped and unprepared. On 5 March 1726, the duke died unexpectedly at his London residence in Arlington Street. The title and vast family estates passed to Evelyn, who, at only fourteen years of age, suddenly found himself in possession of immense wealth and rank.
Under the provisions of his grandfather’s will, his education was entrusted to a governor, Nathan Hickman, and a tutor, Peter Platel (b. 1701), the son of the London goldsmith Pierre Platel (c. 1664-1719). Accompanied by these advisers, the young duke embarked in July 1726 on an extended Continental tour. Although he travelled as far as Rome in 1732, he spent much of his time in France, a country, and particularly its capital, for which he developed a lasting affection. During his stay in Paris, he formed an attachment to Mlle Carton, a member of the Paris Opéra chorus, who may have delayed his return to England in 1733. Upon attaining his majority, however, Kingston assumed full control of his affairs. Part of his time was spent at Thoresby, where he maintained a household on a grand scale, reportedly employing three male cooks, an exceptional confectioner, and a total domestic staff of some 110 servants.
Kingston soon returned to Paris in early 1734, probably to renew his acquaintance with Mlle. Carton. By the following year, however, he had embarked upon a more serious relationship with Madame Nicolas Vallet de La Touche, through whom he was introduced to some of the most distinguished circles in French society, probably including the Prince de Condé, one of Meissonnier’s earliest and most important patrons. This connection would help explain the circumstances surrounding the commission of the Kingston tureens, although the precise details of the order remain unknown.
Horace Walpole described Kingston as a man of limited intellect but 'of the greatest beauty, and finest person in England.' Endowed with wealth, charm, and remarkable good looks, he enjoyed considerable success in French society. His attachment to Madame de La Touche quelled any desire to return permanently to England. Nevertheless, in November 1736, apparently at the request of the Whig Prime Minister Robert Walpole, he returned to London. A week later, Madame de La Touche followed him to England, severing her ties with France. The resulting scandal ultimately led to an official decree effectively prohibiting both Kingston and his mistress from returning to France and his mistress from attending the London royal court. The couple thus settled into a relatively quiet existence, dividing their time between London and Thoresby Hall. Early in 1745, Thoresby Hall was once again destroyed by fire. Kingston nonetheless continued to reside there in temporary accommodation near the stables, even shipping his silver, which presumably included the tureens, from his property on Arlington Street in London to the estate in 1746.
Determined to restore his ancestral seat, Kingston eventually commissioned John Carr of York to design a new mansion. Construction began in 1767 and was completed in 1771 at considerable expense. While the exterior was sometimes criticised as old-fashioned, visitors admired the scale of the house, its gilded interiors, and the grandeur of its furnishings and staff.
ELIZABETH CHUDLEIGH, COUNTESS OF BRISTOL AND DUCHESS OF KINGSTON
By 1751, his long relationship with Madame de La Touche had ended, having been replaced by an attachment to Elizabeth Chudleigh (1720-1788), the celebrated Maid of Honour to Augusta, Princess of Wales. Renowned for her beauty and wit, Elizabeth became one of the leading figures of fashionable London society, remembered for her scandalous behaviour. As Kingston’s companion, and later his wife, she presided over Kingston House in Knightsbridge, whose lavish interiors were remarked upon by Horace Walpole who wrote that the house 'is not fine nor in good taste, but loaded with finery. Execrable varnished pictures, chests, cabinets, commodes, tables, stands, boxes, riding on one another's backs, and loaded with terreens, filigree, figures and everything upon earth.' Henri Hawley has suggested that among the treasures displayed there may have been Meissonnier’s tureens (Henry H. Hawley, 'Meissonnier's Silver for the Duke of Kingston', The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art, December, 1978).
Kingston and Elizabeth were married at St George’s, Hanover Square, on 8 March 1769. The duke died at Bath on 23 September 1773, aged sixty-two. His death triggered an infamous inheritance dispute when it emerged that Elizabeth had previously contracted a secret marriage with Augustus John Hervey. Accused of bigamy by Kingston’s nephew Evelyn Meadows, she was tried before the House of Lords in 1776 and found guilty. Thus, her title of Duchess of Kingston was declared invalid. Despite the scandal, she successfully defended her claim to Kingston’s estate but chose to leave England to avoid further proceedings on the part of the Meadows family. She took with her all his art collection, including his silver and the tureens. She initially settled in Calais before embarking on travels that took her to Rome, where she befriended Pope Pius VI. She sailed her private yacht to Russia, where she charmed Empress Catherine the Great, presenting the Empress with valuable works of art from Kingston’s estate. She acquired and expanded three adjoining properties in Estonia, which she renamed ‘Chudleigh’. As she grew older, she returned to France, dividing her time between Paris and her country estate at Saint-Assise, outside the capital, where she entertained French aristocrats, who continued to call her the Duchess of Kingston. She died suddenly on 26 August 1788 at Saint-Assise from an internal haemorrhage caused by a severe fit of rage.
THE FATE OF THE TUREENS SINCE 1788
Upon her death, the Pierrepont estates passed to Charles Meadows, but her expansive foreign properties, including the Saint-Assise château in France, her Roman palace, and the vast Chudleigh estate in Estonia, along with her commercial Russian vodka distillery, were liquidated or passed down according to her private French and Russian testaments. Many of her possessions remained at the Chudleigh estate she had acquired. Her collection of prized jewellery, international bankrolls, and imported English assets were aggressively targeted by various European claimants and creditors. In her will, she had bequeathed all her paintings to Empress Catherine the Great and a large diamond to the Pope. To Charles Meadows she left,
“all the communion plate which belongs to the Chapel of Thoresby and which were taken away with other vessels and sent by mistake to St. Petersburg in Russia... together with all my other gold and guilt plate whatsoever, either for the use of ornament and likewise the following plate...
One large cistern with ornaments weighing 3,606 ozq.
Two large silver vessels to put wine in with their pedestals and appur- tenances, one large covered middle piece, 362 ozs. 5 dwts.
Two large tureens with covers weighing 1,342 ozs. 5 dwts."
However, most of her works of art, including the tureens, were confiscated by her Russian creditors and sold in St. Petersburg.
The tureens next appear in the collection of Alexander Andreievitch, Prince Bezborodko (1747-1799), one of the most influential statesmen of Empress Catherine the Great’s reign and a distinguished collector. Upon Bezborodko’s death, his vast estates passed first to his brother, Count Ilya Bezborodko, and subsequently to his nephew, Count Alexander Kushelev-Bezborodko, who in turn sold the tureens to Alexander Alexandrovitch Polovtzof (1832-1909).
Polovtzoff was a Secretary of State for ten years and a close adviser to Tsar Alexander III, as well as President of the Imperial Historical Society of St. Petersburg. Following the death of his father-in-law, Baron Stieglitz, one of the richest bankers in Russia, Polovtsoff was able to indulge his passion for collecting, purchasing works both for the Stieglitz Museum and for his own celebrated collection. He also sought, unsuccessfully, to persuade the Imperial government to acquire the renowned Spitzer Collection before its dispersal in Paris in 1893.
Following Polovtsov’s death in 1909, his children discovered that much of the family fortune was tied up in industrial investments and consequently decided to sell his art collection. The sale took place at the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris on 2-4 December 1909. There, the celebrated Kingston tureens (lot 18), were purchased by the distinguished Paris dealer J. Seligmann for 176,000 gold francs. The tureens were subsequently offered for sale together at Christie’s, Geneva, 8 November 1977, as one lot acquired by Peter Zervudachi, Galerie du Lac, Vevey, Switzerland. Selling for 2.45 million Swiss Francs ($1.1 million), the tureens set the world record for a silver work of art, which stood for nearly two decades. Zervudachi separated the tureens, selling one (Tureen A) to the Cleveland Museum of Art; the other (offered here) entered the Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kaszon family trust before being sold again at Sotheby’s, New York, 13 May 1998.