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Lot Essay
This magnificent pair of wall-lights are painted with the inventory marks of Gatchina Palace in St. Petersburg. Of the two sets of marks, the first, in light blue, are from the 1926 inventory of Gatchina palace when the most important objects from the Imperial palaces were inventoried for sale abroad by the Soviet Government. The second set of numbers, in red, are as yet unidentified. Unfortunately, the archival records pertaining to these wall-lights have not survived.
PAUL I AND THE POSSIBLE PROVENANCE OF THE WALL-LIGHTS
Paul I was born Pavel Petrovich, son of Catherine II the Great and Peter III, in 1754. Though Paul was Catherine's only son, he never developed a close relationship with his all-powerful mother, who usurped the throne from her husband and son in 1762 and throughout her lifertime kept Prince Paul away from participation in government affairs. In 1776 Paul married Sophia Dorothea of Wrtemberg (1759-1828), who was renamed Maria Feodorovna in Russian. In 1782 the couple made a Grand Tour of Europe under the fictitious names of the comte and comtesse du Nord, spending considerable time in Paris, where they visited cabinet-makers, marchand-merciers including Dominique Daguerre, and even the Svres porcelain manufactory. Whilst in Paris, they bought and were given a large number of objects which ultimately furnished the Imperial palaces, including Gatchina.
Paul's passion for French objets d'art continued well after he ascended to the throne, and was perhaps most clearly revealed in 1798 when the Emperor lifted a ban on all imports from France for a special order of bronzes, imported into the country for the furnishing of his palaces. Six foreign merchants were involved in acquisitions for the Russian ruler of more than 500 exceptional ormolu objets d'art, and most of these were bought on the French market (I. Zeck, 'Bronzes d'ameublement et meubles franais ache ts par Paul Ier pour le chteau Saint-Michael de Saint-Ptersbourg en 1798-1799,' Bulletin de La Socit de l'Histoire de l'Art Franais, 1994, pp. 141-157.) It is certainly a possibility, therefore, that these wall-lights were originally supplied to Gatchina or another Imperial palace in 1799, as part of the twelve shipments of bronzes to the Russia Court made to the order of the architect Vincenzo Brenna.
GATCHINA PALACE
The Gatchina Palace, located 30 miles outside St. Petersburg, was purchased by Catherine II in 1765 and presented to her lover Prince Gregory Orlov, along with a park encompassing 1700 acres. The grand classical design of Gatchina was originally conceived by Antonio Rinaldi (1709-1796), but after the palace passed to Paul I in 1783, it was altered and redecorated by Vincenzo Brenna (1745-1820), who embellished the interiors under the influence of the splendor seen by Paul I at the palaces of Versailles and Chantilly. At Paul's death in 1801, his son Alexander I came to occupy the palace and Gatchina continued to serve as the favored residence of the Russian Czars throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.
THE FEUCHERE ATTRIBUTION
The attribution to Feuchre is supported by several documented examples of the same model with either two or three branches. One pair was supplied to Versailles for Thierry de Ville d'Avray, the commissaire gnral des Gardes-Meuble de la Couronne, on September 27, 1787 for 950 livres. Another pair, but with different bobches, is in the J. Paul Getty Museum (C. Bremmer-David, Decorative Arts: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue of the Collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1993, p. 106, cat. no. 175. A further pair, signed Feuchre, was formerly in the collection of Alphonse de Rothschild in Vienna. Other similar pairs were sold anonymously at:- Christie's London, 27 June, 1974, lot 4A; Ader Picard Tajan, Paris, 12 December 1990, lot 128; and Christie's London, 30 April 1976, lot 49.
A larger version of these wall-lights, but with three branches and a central winged putto was supplied by Feuchre to the cabinet de toilette of Marie-Antoinette at St. Cloud in 1787. Interestingly, these wall-lights have the same form of engine-turned and pearled bobches (illustrated in P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dors Franais du XVIIIe Sicle, Paris, 1987, pp. 380-381, figs. 385-387).
PIERRE-FRANCOIS FEUCHERE
Pierre-Franois Feuchre (1737-1823) was a member of a prominent family of gilders who, along with his father, supplied gilt-bronzes to various members of the Royal family. Feuchre was sworn into the guild of ciseleurs-doreurs in 1767. The Feuchres survived the vicisitudes of the Revolution and continued their successful business through the Empire and Restoration periods, selling stock from their manufactory in 1824 and 1829.
PAUL I AND THE POSSIBLE PROVENANCE OF THE WALL-LIGHTS
Paul I was born Pavel Petrovich, son of Catherine II the Great and Peter III, in 1754. Though Paul was Catherine's only son, he never developed a close relationship with his all-powerful mother, who usurped the throne from her husband and son in 1762 and throughout her lifertime kept Prince Paul away from participation in government affairs. In 1776 Paul married Sophia Dorothea of Wrtemberg (1759-1828), who was renamed Maria Feodorovna in Russian. In 1782 the couple made a Grand Tour of Europe under the fictitious names of the comte and comtesse du Nord, spending considerable time in Paris, where they visited cabinet-makers, marchand-merciers including Dominique Daguerre, and even the Svres porcelain manufactory. Whilst in Paris, they bought and were given a large number of objects which ultimately furnished the Imperial palaces, including Gatchina.
Paul's passion for French objets d'art continued well after he ascended to the throne, and was perhaps most clearly revealed in 1798 when the Emperor lifted a ban on all imports from France for a special order of bronzes, imported into the country for the furnishing of his palaces. Six foreign merchants were involved in acquisitions for the Russian ruler of more than 500 exceptional ormolu objets d'art, and most of these were bought on the French market (I. Zeck, 'Bronzes d'ameublement et meubles franais ache ts par Paul Ier pour le chteau Saint-Michael de Saint-Ptersbourg en 1798-1799,' Bulletin de La Socit de l'Histoire de l'Art Franais, 1994, pp. 141-157.) It is certainly a possibility, therefore, that these wall-lights were originally supplied to Gatchina or another Imperial palace in 1799, as part of the twelve shipments of bronzes to the Russia Court made to the order of the architect Vincenzo Brenna.
GATCHINA PALACE
The Gatchina Palace, located 30 miles outside St. Petersburg, was purchased by Catherine II in 1765 and presented to her lover Prince Gregory Orlov, along with a park encompassing 1700 acres. The grand classical design of Gatchina was originally conceived by Antonio Rinaldi (1709-1796), but after the palace passed to Paul I in 1783, it was altered and redecorated by Vincenzo Brenna (1745-1820), who embellished the interiors under the influence of the splendor seen by Paul I at the palaces of Versailles and Chantilly. At Paul's death in 1801, his son Alexander I came to occupy the palace and Gatchina continued to serve as the favored residence of the Russian Czars throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.
THE FEUCHERE ATTRIBUTION
The attribution to Feuchre is supported by several documented examples of the same model with either two or three branches. One pair was supplied to Versailles for Thierry de Ville d'Avray, the commissaire gnral des Gardes-Meuble de la Couronne, on September 27, 1787 for 950 livres. Another pair, but with different bobches, is in the J. Paul Getty Museum (C. Bremmer-David, Decorative Arts: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue of the Collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1993, p. 106, cat. no. 175. A further pair, signed Feuchre, was formerly in the collection of Alphonse de Rothschild in Vienna. Other similar pairs were sold anonymously at:- Christie's London, 27 June, 1974, lot 4A; Ader Picard Tajan, Paris, 12 December 1990, lot 128; and Christie's London, 30 April 1976, lot 49.
A larger version of these wall-lights, but with three branches and a central winged putto was supplied by Feuchre to the cabinet de toilette of Marie-Antoinette at St. Cloud in 1787. Interestingly, these wall-lights have the same form of engine-turned and pearled bobches (illustrated in P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dors Franais du XVIIIe Sicle, Paris, 1987, pp. 380-381, figs. 385-387).
PIERRE-FRANCOIS FEUCHERE
Pierre-Franois Feuchre (1737-1823) was a member of a prominent family of gilders who, along with his father, supplied gilt-bronzes to various members of the Royal family. Feuchre was sworn into the guild of ciseleurs-doreurs in 1767. The Feuchres survived the vicisitudes of the Revolution and continued their successful business through the Empire and Restoration periods, selling stock from their manufactory in 1824 and 1829.