拍品专文
CHARLES CRESSENT
Born in Amiens, Charles Cressent (d.1768) was the son of the sculpteur du Roi, François Cressent. As a young apprentice he would therefore certainly have known Gilles Oppenord, who was appointed first architect to the duc d'Orléans in 1709. Based in the suburbs of Paris in 1711, Cressent worked for the sculptors Girardon and le Lorrain in 1714. Elected maître sculpteur of the Saint Luc Academy on the 14 August 1714, he subsequently qualified as an ébéniste after his marriage to the widow of Joseph Poitou (formerly ébéniste du Régent) in 1719. Having enlarged the workshop considerably, Cressent was in turn appointed as ébéniste du Régent, (the duc d'Orléans) and flourished because of the sumptuous mounts he created for his furniture, which he sold to a wealthy clientele, mainly financiers.
On the 21 May 1733, 'la comuité des doreurs-ciseleurs' brought a lawsuit against Cressent for infringing the boundaries between ébénisterie and the realms of the doreurs-ciseleurs' livelihood. Amongst the property confiscated from his workshop in the rue Nôtre Dame des Victoires was:
'Une partie de pendule de cuivre doré d'or moulu, avec sa boette aussy de cuivre doré d'or moulu, la .....de la dite boette, quatre bouts de moulure, une faux, le deux pieds de Denière avec les deux chuttes de la dite pendule, la nuée, et l'enfant pour mettre dessus, le tout de cuivre doré d'or moulu et non mis en couleur.'
Cressent, in defending himself remarked that the clock had been ordered by the King of Portugal, Jean V and was 'd'un gôut nouveau et très riches...' gilded by Cazaubon for the sum of 300 livres.
This model of cartel, 'L'amour vainqueur le Temps', and first executed by Cressent around 1733, clearly enjoyed enduring popularity, as he offered another in his own sale on 15 January 1749, lot 25
'Une magnifique pendule de bronze dont la composition est du meilleur goût; il y a sur le haut un Amour qui est assis sur des nuages, il appuye son coude sur un sable. Au dessus du cadran est la figure de Temps, tenant sa faulx, et posé sur le chaos du monde, les pieds sont formés par deux grands arbre, le tout parfaitement bien sizelé, d'oré d'or molu'.
Only four other cartel clocks of this model are known:
One is in the Louvre, Paris and was first mentioned in 1787 in the 'salle d'audience' of the Head of the Royal Household in the hôtel de Garde-Meuble de Paris, with a movement by Goudain; another is in the the hôtel de Ville de Marseille, France in the Mayor's Office, with a dial by Hervé; another is in the Wallace Collection, London, F92, the movement by Guiot and probably originally in the collection of Président Haudry; and the final example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, with a movement by Jean Goddé l'ainé.
Cressent is not know to have signed any of his work, and so the prescence of the signature 'ch.Cressent on this cartel must be treated with caution. The prescence of gilding within the signature is, however, very much in it favour, suggesting either that the signature is original or that it was added in the 19th Century in which case it must be regilt.
THE DUC DE PENTHIEVRE AND THE CHATEAUX DE VERNON ET BIZY
The marque au feu is that of the châteaux de Vernon and de Bizy. The château de Bizy was owned by the Maréchal de Belle Isle d'Ivry from 1741 to 1761. Subsequently reconstructed by Contant d'Ivry, on the death of the Maréchal the contents of the château were sold but the estate itself was inherited by the comte d'Eu, who in 1775 sold it to the duc de Penthièvre, grandson of Louis XIV and Grand Amiral de France. It was he who was responsible for affixing the marque au feu 'VB' towards the end of the 18th Century. Penthièvre re-furnished the château and spent much of his time there, although he died in his neighbouring château de Vernon in 1793. Bizy was ransacked and demolished during the Révolution, but the estate was later acquired by the duchesse d'Orléans and consequently re-built by Baron Schickler in the 19th Century.
Two pieces in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris (cat. no 188) have this same brand, as well as a pair of fauteuils by Georges Jacob, sold anonymously at Sotheby's New York, 4 May 1985, lot 332.
Born in Amiens, Charles Cressent (d.1768) was the son of the sculpteur du Roi, François Cressent. As a young apprentice he would therefore certainly have known Gilles Oppenord, who was appointed first architect to the duc d'Orléans in 1709. Based in the suburbs of Paris in 1711, Cressent worked for the sculptors Girardon and le Lorrain in 1714. Elected maître sculpteur of the Saint Luc Academy on the 14 August 1714, he subsequently qualified as an ébéniste after his marriage to the widow of Joseph Poitou (formerly ébéniste du Régent) in 1719. Having enlarged the workshop considerably, Cressent was in turn appointed as ébéniste du Régent, (the duc d'Orléans) and flourished because of the sumptuous mounts he created for his furniture, which he sold to a wealthy clientele, mainly financiers.
On the 21 May 1733, 'la comuité des doreurs-ciseleurs' brought a lawsuit against Cressent for infringing the boundaries between ébénisterie and the realms of the doreurs-ciseleurs' livelihood. Amongst the property confiscated from his workshop in the rue Nôtre Dame des Victoires was:
'Une partie de pendule de cuivre doré d'or moulu, avec sa boette aussy de cuivre doré d'or moulu, la .....de la dite boette, quatre bouts de moulure, une faux, le deux pieds de Denière avec les deux chuttes de la dite pendule, la nuée, et l'enfant pour mettre dessus, le tout de cuivre doré d'or moulu et non mis en couleur.'
Cressent, in defending himself remarked that the clock had been ordered by the King of Portugal, Jean V and was 'd'un gôut nouveau et très riches...' gilded by Cazaubon for the sum of 300 livres.
This model of cartel, 'L'amour vainqueur le Temps', and first executed by Cressent around 1733, clearly enjoyed enduring popularity, as he offered another in his own sale on 15 January 1749, lot 25
'Une magnifique pendule de bronze dont la composition est du meilleur goût; il y a sur le haut un Amour qui est assis sur des nuages, il appuye son coude sur un sable. Au dessus du cadran est la figure de Temps, tenant sa faulx, et posé sur le chaos du monde, les pieds sont formés par deux grands arbre, le tout parfaitement bien sizelé, d'oré d'or molu'.
Only four other cartel clocks of this model are known:
One is in the Louvre, Paris and was first mentioned in 1787 in the 'salle d'audience' of the Head of the Royal Household in the hôtel de Garde-Meuble de Paris, with a movement by Goudain; another is in the the hôtel de Ville de Marseille, France in the Mayor's Office, with a dial by Hervé; another is in the Wallace Collection, London, F92, the movement by Guiot and probably originally in the collection of Président Haudry; and the final example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, with a movement by Jean Goddé l'ainé.
Cressent is not know to have signed any of his work, and so the prescence of the signature 'ch.Cressent on this cartel must be treated with caution. The prescence of gilding within the signature is, however, very much in it favour, suggesting either that the signature is original or that it was added in the 19th Century in which case it must be regilt.
THE DUC DE PENTHIEVRE AND THE CHATEAUX DE VERNON ET BIZY
The marque au feu is that of the châteaux de Vernon and de Bizy. The château de Bizy was owned by the Maréchal de Belle Isle d'Ivry from 1741 to 1761. Subsequently reconstructed by Contant d'Ivry, on the death of the Maréchal the contents of the château were sold but the estate itself was inherited by the comte d'Eu, who in 1775 sold it to the duc de Penthièvre, grandson of Louis XIV and Grand Amiral de France. It was he who was responsible for affixing the marque au feu 'VB' towards the end of the 18th Century. Penthièvre re-furnished the château and spent much of his time there, although he died in his neighbouring château de Vernon in 1793. Bizy was ransacked and demolished during the Révolution, but the estate was later acquired by the duchesse d'Orléans and consequently re-built by Baron Schickler in the 19th Century.
Two pieces in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris (cat. no 188) have this same brand, as well as a pair of fauteuils by Georges Jacob, sold anonymously at Sotheby's New York, 4 May 1985, lot 332.