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Lot Essay
André-Charles Boulle, appointed Ebéniste, Ciseleur, Doreur et
Sculpteur du Roi in 1672.
According to Furetières' Dictionaire of 1684, guéridons were placed in a bedchamber to support candelabra, vases etc...
The design for these guéridons fuses an engraving by Mariette published after 1707 with the design for a guéridon (or torchère) by André-Charles Boulle. Mariette's engraving, published in his Nouveaux Deisseins de Meubles et Ouvrages de Bronze et de Marqueterie Inventés et gravés par André-Charles Boulle, depicts a guéridon with a baluster-form shaft, whilst the distinctive pieds en rouleau are derived directly from Boulle's drawing.
WILLIAM BECKFORD OF FONTHILL
The catalogue entry for the sale by James Christie of just some of the treasures accumulated by William Beckford for his London house, 6 Upper Harley Street in 1817 describes lot 62 as:-
A pair of superb gueridons or stands for candelabra of ebony and tortoiseshell, inlaid with steel and brass, of Buhl manufacture, on tripod scroll stand, embellished with masks, drapery, &c. of or-moulu, the top also richly inlaid with metals and tortoiseshell, 4 ft. 4 high.
The sole difference between this 1817 catalogue description and the torchères offered here is in the height - a variation of 2.7 cm.
This model of guéridon is clearly illustrated in John Rutter's Delineations of Fonthill and its Abbey, published in 1823, where it is depicted in both the Grand Drawing Room and the St. Michael's Gallery. The explanation for this minimal difference in height almost certainly lies in the gilt ball feet visible in the 1823 Fonthill engravings, which are now more flattened and, on close inspection, have clearly been changed on these torchères.
Rutter's plates are thought to have been engraved around 1820-22 and although he is known to have used some artistic license in the placement of objects within Fonthill, the 1817 sale and their appearance in 1823 would appear to be contradictory.
However, Beckford is known to have bought back several objects in the 1817 sale from his London house, and indeed a pair of 'Buhl' torchères - although briefly described - was also included in the abortive Christie's 1822 Fonthill sale (8 October and the following nine days, third day's sale, 10 October, lot 40): A pair of superb EBONY and BUHL CANDELABRA, massively mounted with or-moulu, finely chased and gilt, mounted with green marble slabs. This same description was repeated in Farquhar's 1823 sale for the torchères from the St. Michael's Gallery. Whilst the St. Michael's Gallery was certainly where torchères of this exact model appear to have been placed in Rutter's Delineations of Fonthill and its Abbey of 1823, the mention of green marble slabs does not correspond at all with the offered torchères.
Rutter also illustrates a set of four torchères of this exact model in the Grand Drawing Room at Fonthill in 1823, which he described as Four buhl candelabras, with candlesticks, with designs from Cellini. These are probably those listed in the final Fonthill sale held by Phillips on 9 September and following days until the end of October, 1823, which recorded in the Oak and Tapestry Dining Room:-
lot 754 A pair of ancient Buhl tripods, designed with simple elegance, and enriched with BRONZE gilt
lot 755 A pair ditto.
From this, as well as from Rutter, it is possible to conclude that Beckford certainly owned at least two pairs of torchères of this exact model. It is interesting to note, therefore, that two identical pairs, probably including the offered lot, was sold from the Bouthin Collection in Paris, 12 October 1798, lots 311 and 312. In 1798, Beckford is known to have been on one of his active buying trips to Paris.
It is, however, entirely possible that Beckford could have owned three pairs of this exact model of torchère, one pair being sold in 1817 and the other two being sold in 1823. This hypothesis is perhaps reinforced by the fact that lot 73 in the 1817 sale from Beckford's London house was a pair of 'Buhl' torcheres with octagonal tops and triangular shafts. Interestingly, the consecutive lot in the Alton Towers sale (lot 2316) corresponds exactly with those described in lot 73 - an unlikely coincidence unless Shrewsbury had bought both pairs in the Beckford 1817 sale.
Interestingly, one of the pairs of candlesticks placed upon the torchères whilst in the St. Michael's Gallery was sold from the collection of Mr. Edward Sarofim, Christie's London, 16 November 1995, lot 111 (£104,500).
RELATED TORCHERES
A thorough examination of 18th Century sale catalogues reveals only three pairs of guéridons of this exact model:-
-the first pair, 132 cm. high, was sold from the collection of Jean de Julienne in Paris, 30 March 1767, lot 1629.
-the remaining two pairs, one en première partie, the second en contre-partie, are recorded in the Bouthin Collection (137cm. high), sold in Paris, 12 October 1798, lots 311 and 312.
Today, three pairs are now conserved in Museums:-
-two pairs, apparently identical, formed part of the Grog-Carven Bequest to the Musée du Louvre in 1973 (inv.OA 10450 and 10451) and these are illustrated in D. Alcouffe, Le Mobilier du Musée du Louvre, Dijon, 1993, Vol. I, p.90, no.23 (126cm. high).
-a third pair, mounted with slightly different bronzes, is in the Wallace Collection, London, and these were probably already in the collection of the Marquess of Hertford by 1842 (P. Hughes, Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, Vol.II, no.132, pp.616-620.
THE WEST WYCOMBE PROVENANCE
By family tradition, these torchères, together with the Boulle table de milieu en suite (lot 35) were always said to have been acquired for West Wycombe by Sir George Dashwood, 5th Bart., circa 1854-56 following the sale of Halton, another Dashwood estate in Buckinghamshire to Alfred de Rothschild. The fact that the Shrewsbury pair is the only pair known to have been on the market in England at this time, and its description matches not only the offered pair exactly, but also closely follows the text from the 1817 Beckford catalogue would suggest that these torchères are conclusively one and the same.
Sculpteur du Roi in 1672.
According to Furetières' Dictionaire of 1684, guéridons were placed in a bedchamber to support candelabra, vases etc...
The design for these guéridons fuses an engraving by Mariette published after 1707 with the design for a guéridon (or torchère) by André-Charles Boulle. Mariette's engraving, published in his Nouveaux Deisseins de Meubles et Ouvrages de Bronze et de Marqueterie Inventés et gravés par André-Charles Boulle, depicts a guéridon with a baluster-form shaft, whilst the distinctive pieds en rouleau are derived directly from Boulle's drawing.
WILLIAM BECKFORD OF FONTHILL
The catalogue entry for the sale by James Christie of just some of the treasures accumulated by William Beckford for his London house, 6 Upper Harley Street in 1817 describes lot 62 as:-
A pair of superb gueridons or stands for candelabra of ebony and tortoiseshell, inlaid with steel and brass, of Buhl manufacture, on tripod scroll stand, embellished with masks, drapery, &c. of or-moulu, the top also richly inlaid with metals and tortoiseshell, 4 ft. 4 high.
The sole difference between this 1817 catalogue description and the torchères offered here is in the height - a variation of 2.7 cm.
This model of guéridon is clearly illustrated in John Rutter's Delineations of Fonthill and its Abbey, published in 1823, where it is depicted in both the Grand Drawing Room and the St. Michael's Gallery. The explanation for this minimal difference in height almost certainly lies in the gilt ball feet visible in the 1823 Fonthill engravings, which are now more flattened and, on close inspection, have clearly been changed on these torchères.
Rutter's plates are thought to have been engraved around 1820-22 and although he is known to have used some artistic license in the placement of objects within Fonthill, the 1817 sale and their appearance in 1823 would appear to be contradictory.
However, Beckford is known to have bought back several objects in the 1817 sale from his London house, and indeed a pair of 'Buhl' torchères - although briefly described - was also included in the abortive Christie's 1822 Fonthill sale (8 October and the following nine days, third day's sale, 10 October, lot 40): A pair of superb EBONY and BUHL CANDELABRA, massively mounted with or-moulu, finely chased and gilt, mounted with green marble slabs. This same description was repeated in Farquhar's 1823 sale for the torchères from the St. Michael's Gallery. Whilst the St. Michael's Gallery was certainly where torchères of this exact model appear to have been placed in Rutter's Delineations of Fonthill and its Abbey of 1823, the mention of green marble slabs does not correspond at all with the offered torchères.
Rutter also illustrates a set of four torchères of this exact model in the Grand Drawing Room at Fonthill in 1823, which he described as Four buhl candelabras, with candlesticks, with designs from Cellini. These are probably those listed in the final Fonthill sale held by Phillips on 9 September and following days until the end of October, 1823, which recorded in the Oak and Tapestry Dining Room:-
lot 754 A pair of ancient Buhl tripods, designed with simple elegance, and enriched with BRONZE gilt
lot 755 A pair ditto.
From this, as well as from Rutter, it is possible to conclude that Beckford certainly owned at least two pairs of torchères of this exact model. It is interesting to note, therefore, that two identical pairs, probably including the offered lot, was sold from the Bouthin Collection in Paris, 12 October 1798, lots 311 and 312. In 1798, Beckford is known to have been on one of his active buying trips to Paris.
It is, however, entirely possible that Beckford could have owned three pairs of this exact model of torchère, one pair being sold in 1817 and the other two being sold in 1823. This hypothesis is perhaps reinforced by the fact that lot 73 in the 1817 sale from Beckford's London house was a pair of 'Buhl' torcheres with octagonal tops and triangular shafts. Interestingly, the consecutive lot in the Alton Towers sale (lot 2316) corresponds exactly with those described in lot 73 - an unlikely coincidence unless Shrewsbury had bought both pairs in the Beckford 1817 sale.
Interestingly, one of the pairs of candlesticks placed upon the torchères whilst in the St. Michael's Gallery was sold from the collection of Mr. Edward Sarofim, Christie's London, 16 November 1995, lot 111 (£104,500).
RELATED TORCHERES
A thorough examination of 18th Century sale catalogues reveals only three pairs of guéridons of this exact model:-
-the first pair, 132 cm. high, was sold from the collection of Jean de Julienne in Paris, 30 March 1767, lot 1629.
-the remaining two pairs, one en première partie, the second en contre-partie, are recorded in the Bouthin Collection (137cm. high), sold in Paris, 12 October 1798, lots 311 and 312.
Today, three pairs are now conserved in Museums:-
-two pairs, apparently identical, formed part of the Grog-Carven Bequest to the Musée du Louvre in 1973 (inv.OA 10450 and 10451) and these are illustrated in D. Alcouffe, Le Mobilier du Musée du Louvre, Dijon, 1993, Vol. I, p.90, no.23 (126cm. high).
-a third pair, mounted with slightly different bronzes, is in the Wallace Collection, London, and these were probably already in the collection of the Marquess of Hertford by 1842 (P. Hughes, Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, Vol.II, no.132, pp.616-620.
THE WEST WYCOMBE PROVENANCE
By family tradition, these torchères, together with the Boulle table de milieu en suite (lot 35) were always said to have been acquired for West Wycombe by Sir George Dashwood, 5th Bart., circa 1854-56 following the sale of Halton, another Dashwood estate in Buckinghamshire to Alfred de Rothschild. The fact that the Shrewsbury pair is the only pair known to have been on the market in England at this time, and its description matches not only the offered pair exactly, but also closely follows the text from the 1817 Beckford catalogue would suggest that these torchères are conclusively one and the same.