.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Charles Cressent, matre-sculpteur in 1714
THE CRESSENT WORKSHOP
Charles Cressent (1685-1768) ran one of the most important cabinet-making workshops in Paris between 1719 and 1757. Son of the sculpteur du Roi, Franois Cressent, he trained as sculptor and was elected matre scultpeur of the Saint-Luc Acadmie on August 14, 1714. In 1719, Cressent married the widow of the cabinet-maker Joseph Poitou, and thus gained access to the cabinet-making trade. Shortly after, he was appointed bniste ordinaire des palais de SAR Monseigneur le Duc d'Orlans, Rgent du royaume.
Cressent's apprenticeship no doubt influenced the extraordinarily sculptural quality of his work as an bniste. Indeed, the fact that his workshop produced both bronzes and cabinet-work, mostly of exotic woods such as bois satin, accounts for the remarkably homogeneous nature of his output and its consistently high quality as he was able to exercise direct control over all aspects of the production.
This pedestal is thus characteristic of his output, incorporating a profusion of highly sculptural ormolu mounts directly produced in his workshop despite strict corporate regulations prohibiting the cumulation of trades. Among the fondeurs and ciseleurs employed within his workshop were matres doreurs Lon-Jacques Cazobon and Franois Bruyer. This direct contravention of strict guilds laws separating professional activities provoked many lawsuits brought against him in the 1720s and 1730s by the guild of matres-fondeurs, often resulting in seizures of illegally-produced bronze mounts or ornamental bronzes such as fire-dogs, wall-lights and chandeliers. Possibly because of his violation of corporate regulations, Cressent is thought not to have signed any of his bronzes. Attribution, however, is rendered possible by descriptions of his work either offered in the sales of his stock organized by him, when part of court seizures, or when listed in contemporary inventories or auction catalogues.
Cressent sold his production directly to clients from premises located above his workshop at the corner of the rues Notre-Dame-des-Victoire and Joquelet. Among his clients were the Regent Philippe of Orlans, the treasurer of the Navy M. de Selle, Max-Emanuel of Bavaria and his son Karl-Albrecht.
KARL-ALBRECHT, ELECTOR OF BAVARIA AND HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR
Karl-Albrecht (1697-1745), Elector of Bavaria, is likely to have discovered Cressent's work during his sojourn in Paris in 1725, possibly through the Regent, Philippe d'Orlans, who was Cressent's principal patron. The Elector visited Paris with his brother Clemens-August that year on the occasion of the royal wedding arranged between the Polish princess Maria Leszcyinska and the Dauphin, the future Louis XV. The elder son of Max-Emanuel of Bavaria (1662-1726), Karl-Albrecht was not elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire until 1742 as Karl VII, and thus, up until his father's death, he embarked upon a remarkable and ambitious scheme of patronage in both Paris and at home. Like his son, Max-Emanuel's taste for French decorative arts had already been developed during his exile in France following his loss of the Spanish Netherlands and up until the Bade Peace Treatry of 1714, which restored him to his Bavarian electorship. In 1713 he had purchased a palace at Saint-Cloud and had begun making large-scale purchases in Paris to furnish both his newly-acquired property and his Bavarian residences. Amongst his acquisitions were an unusual pedestal supporting an equestrian group executed by Guillaume de Grof in 1714, in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, and a magnificent Boulle-work desk surmounted by a clock, now in the Louvre Museum, made by Bernard I van Risen Burgh around that time (J.-N. Ronfort and J.-Dominique Augarde, 'Le matre du bureau de l'Electeur,' L'Estampille/L'Objet d'Art, January 1991, pp. 42-74).
Upon his return to Munich in 1714, the Elector continued his acquisition program through his agent the comte d'Albert, Prince de Grimberghen, the marchand-miroitier Pierre Granier and the marchand-mercier Edm Calley. The Bavarian collections, particularly at the Residenz in Munich, attest to the extent of their discerning patronage (B. Langer, Die Mbel der Residenz Mnchen, 3 vols., Munich, 1995).
THE RESIDENZ
The Residenz was built during the reign of Maximilian I, between 1611-1616. Partly destroyed by a fire in 1674, it was rebuilt and the young Elector Max-Emanuel II moved in in 1680. A flourishing artistic centre under his patronage up until 1706, when he was forced to flee, it served not only as the seat of the Bavarian electorate but also as a repository for the diverse art collections accumulated since the early 17th century. Upon his return from exile in 1715, Max-Emanuel undertook an extensive refurbishment program of the electoral apartments led by Joseph Effner and, subsequently, following a further fire of 1729, Franois de Cuvillis.
THE PEDESTAL AND THE CRESSENT COMMISSION FOR THE RESIDENZ
The pedestal supplied by Cressent for the Residenz is part of a much larger commission of furniture ordered from Cressent's Parisian workshop for the Residenz. The eight pieces delivered between 1730 and 1735 by this workshop for the Bavarian Elector today constitute the most representative and impressive collection of Cressent pieces ever assembled by a single patron. This unique ensemble testifies to Cressent's unmatched virtuosity as an bniste and a fondeur, and reflects the splendour with which the Elector surrounded himself.
Unlike the pieces delivered by Bernard II van Risen Burgh which were intended to furbish one specific location (see lot 100), Cressent's furniture seems to have been destined for several apartments, rendering the history of the pedestal at the Residenz more difficult to trace. The earliest instance of a pedestal being mentioned at the Residenz appears in the 1769 inventory, where a pedestal topped by a clock was recorded in an alcove in the Electoress's bedchamber, located in the Papal suite. It was described as follows:-
Neben der Pethstatt (...) I Franzsische Repetier Uhr auf einem an der Wand fest gemachten, von purpur Holz, schn mit Bronze d'ore (sic) garnirten Postament stehend. Das gehuss ist von Knigs Holz, die ganze einfassung und darauf stehende kleine Statua aber von Bronze d'ore (sic), samt einer aufzug Schnur von grnem Band
A large mantel clock surmounted by a fully-modelled crowned ormolu putto in the Residenz and attributed to Cressent closely fits this description (see Langer, op.cit., vol. 1, p. 18, U95).
It is, therefore, tempting to suggest that the Alexander pedestal could be that mentioned above.
The Dutasta sale catalogue is included in lot 326.
THE CRESSENT WORKSHOP
Charles Cressent (1685-1768) ran one of the most important cabinet-making workshops in Paris between 1719 and 1757. Son of the sculpteur du Roi, Franois Cressent, he trained as sculptor and was elected matre scultpeur of the Saint-Luc Acadmie on August 14, 1714. In 1719, Cressent married the widow of the cabinet-maker Joseph Poitou, and thus gained access to the cabinet-making trade. Shortly after, he was appointed bniste ordinaire des palais de SAR Monseigneur le Duc d'Orlans, Rgent du royaume.
Cressent's apprenticeship no doubt influenced the extraordinarily sculptural quality of his work as an bniste. Indeed, the fact that his workshop produced both bronzes and cabinet-work, mostly of exotic woods such as bois satin, accounts for the remarkably homogeneous nature of his output and its consistently high quality as he was able to exercise direct control over all aspects of the production.
This pedestal is thus characteristic of his output, incorporating a profusion of highly sculptural ormolu mounts directly produced in his workshop despite strict corporate regulations prohibiting the cumulation of trades. Among the fondeurs and ciseleurs employed within his workshop were matres doreurs Lon-Jacques Cazobon and Franois Bruyer. This direct contravention of strict guilds laws separating professional activities provoked many lawsuits brought against him in the 1720s and 1730s by the guild of matres-fondeurs, often resulting in seizures of illegally-produced bronze mounts or ornamental bronzes such as fire-dogs, wall-lights and chandeliers. Possibly because of his violation of corporate regulations, Cressent is thought not to have signed any of his bronzes. Attribution, however, is rendered possible by descriptions of his work either offered in the sales of his stock organized by him, when part of court seizures, or when listed in contemporary inventories or auction catalogues.
Cressent sold his production directly to clients from premises located above his workshop at the corner of the rues Notre-Dame-des-Victoire and Joquelet. Among his clients were the Regent Philippe of Orlans, the treasurer of the Navy M. de Selle, Max-Emanuel of Bavaria and his son Karl-Albrecht.
KARL-ALBRECHT, ELECTOR OF BAVARIA AND HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR
Karl-Albrecht (1697-1745), Elector of Bavaria, is likely to have discovered Cressent's work during his sojourn in Paris in 1725, possibly through the Regent, Philippe d'Orlans, who was Cressent's principal patron. The Elector visited Paris with his brother Clemens-August that year on the occasion of the royal wedding arranged between the Polish princess Maria Leszcyinska and the Dauphin, the future Louis XV. The elder son of Max-Emanuel of Bavaria (1662-1726), Karl-Albrecht was not elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire until 1742 as Karl VII, and thus, up until his father's death, he embarked upon a remarkable and ambitious scheme of patronage in both Paris and at home. Like his son, Max-Emanuel's taste for French decorative arts had already been developed during his exile in France following his loss of the Spanish Netherlands and up until the Bade Peace Treatry of 1714, which restored him to his Bavarian electorship. In 1713 he had purchased a palace at Saint-Cloud and had begun making large-scale purchases in Paris to furnish both his newly-acquired property and his Bavarian residences. Amongst his acquisitions were an unusual pedestal supporting an equestrian group executed by Guillaume de Grof in 1714, in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, and a magnificent Boulle-work desk surmounted by a clock, now in the Louvre Museum, made by Bernard I van Risen Burgh around that time (J.-N. Ronfort and J.-Dominique Augarde, 'Le matre du bureau de l'Electeur,' L'Estampille/L'Objet d'Art, January 1991, pp. 42-74).
Upon his return to Munich in 1714, the Elector continued his acquisition program through his agent the comte d'Albert, Prince de Grimberghen, the marchand-miroitier Pierre Granier and the marchand-mercier Edm Calley. The Bavarian collections, particularly at the Residenz in Munich, attest to the extent of their discerning patronage (B. Langer, Die Mbel der Residenz Mnchen, 3 vols., Munich, 1995).
THE RESIDENZ
The Residenz was built during the reign of Maximilian I, between 1611-1616. Partly destroyed by a fire in 1674, it was rebuilt and the young Elector Max-Emanuel II moved in in 1680. A flourishing artistic centre under his patronage up until 1706, when he was forced to flee, it served not only as the seat of the Bavarian electorate but also as a repository for the diverse art collections accumulated since the early 17th century. Upon his return from exile in 1715, Max-Emanuel undertook an extensive refurbishment program of the electoral apartments led by Joseph Effner and, subsequently, following a further fire of 1729, Franois de Cuvillis.
THE PEDESTAL AND THE CRESSENT COMMISSION FOR THE RESIDENZ
The pedestal supplied by Cressent for the Residenz is part of a much larger commission of furniture ordered from Cressent's Parisian workshop for the Residenz. The eight pieces delivered between 1730 and 1735 by this workshop for the Bavarian Elector today constitute the most representative and impressive collection of Cressent pieces ever assembled by a single patron. This unique ensemble testifies to Cressent's unmatched virtuosity as an bniste and a fondeur, and reflects the splendour with which the Elector surrounded himself.
Unlike the pieces delivered by Bernard II van Risen Burgh which were intended to furbish one specific location (see lot 100), Cressent's furniture seems to have been destined for several apartments, rendering the history of the pedestal at the Residenz more difficult to trace. The earliest instance of a pedestal being mentioned at the Residenz appears in the 1769 inventory, where a pedestal topped by a clock was recorded in an alcove in the Electoress's bedchamber, located in the Papal suite. It was described as follows:-
Neben der Pethstatt (...) I Franzsische Repetier Uhr auf einem an der Wand fest gemachten, von purpur Holz, schn mit Bronze d'ore (sic) garnirten Postament stehend. Das gehuss ist von Knigs Holz, die ganze einfassung und darauf stehende kleine Statua aber von Bronze d'ore (sic), samt einer aufzug Schnur von grnem Band
A large mantel clock surmounted by a fully-modelled crowned ormolu putto in the Residenz and attributed to Cressent closely fits this description (see Langer, op.cit., vol. 1, p. 18, U95).
It is, therefore, tempting to suggest that the Alexander pedestal could be that mentioned above.
The Dutasta sale catalogue is included in lot 326.