Lot Essay
THE HISTORY OF THE VASES
These celebrated vases or 'cassolettes' are first recorded in the inventory of the duc d'Aumont's collection drawn up by maître Lejay on the 24 May 1782, more than a month after the death of the duc. The marchand-experts Philippe François Julliot and Alexandre Joseph Paillet valued:-
'no. 606 Deux vases couverts, forme cassolette, de porphyre noir supportés par trois consoles et autres ornements en bronze doré mat sur une plinthe de jaspe, anse ornée de bronze doré mat....1600L'. In December of that same year, they were included as lot 6 in the celebrated sale of the duc d'Aumont's collection:-
' Deux Vases ronds, couverts, forme de cassolette, à gorge; cul de lampe pris dans la masse, terminé par un bouton de même qualité, garnis d'un fil de perles sur le bord, supportés chacun par trois consoles à rinceaux d'arabesques, formant anses, accompagnées de guirlandes à roses et fruits sur la panse, terminées chacune par deux pieds de bîche; ils sont placés sur socle triangulaire de jaspe vert aussi garni de moulures à feuilles d'eau, et boules à cannelures, torses de bronze doré d'or mat, G; hauteur, 13 pouces; diamètre, 10 pouces.'
Knocked down to Paillet on behalf of the Queen, Marie-Antoinette, the vases fetched 3,001 livres.
The letter 'G', specifically mentioned in the catalogue entry indicates that the bronze mounts for the vases, as well as the gilding and chasing, were all executed by Gouthière himself. When the duc's affairs were settled in 1784, the celebrated ciseleur-doreur received the enormous payment of 76,955 Livres to satisfy the outstanding balance for work carried out for his patron.
Interestingly, the vases do not figure in the list of 'meubles précieux et de curiosité acquis pour le roi à la vente publique après le décès de M. le duc d'Aumont, and this is further proof that they were indeed purchased by the Queen. They must, however, have been retained by Paillet, as they do not feature in the list of objects packed by Daguerre in the appartements de Marie-Antoinette at Versailles in 1789.
In 1793 they are recorded at the Louvre where they were given the number 61:- 'Deux cassolettes de porphyre gris avec anses en volutes et portées sur trois pieds de bronze doré haut 1 pi (pied)'. Several months later, they were described identically for the first catalogue of the musée du Louvre.
Their subsequent history during the first quarter of the 19th Century remains somewhat obscure, but they may well have been sold in the Directoire sales of 1798, or were perhaps exchanged or given to a dignitary during the Empire period. Whatever surpassed, they reappeared in Paris in the sale of the collection of M. Fierard on 25 January 1837, when they were bought by the duc de Cambacères, nephew and heir of the Prince-Archichancellier de Napoléon for 1805 francs.
THE DUC D'AUMONT
An ancient noble family from Beauvaisis, the d'Aumont's were raised to the dukedom in 1665. Louis-Marie-Augustin d'Aumont Rochebaron, duc de Villequier, was born in Paris on the 28 October 1709. Of almost exactly the same age as Louis XV, he succeeded as duc d'Aumont in 1723 and took up his family's hereditary position as Premier gentilhomme de la Chambre du Roy. This position was held by four Dukes and embraced a wide range of responsibilities, chief amongst which was the supervision of the menus-plaisirs. The menus-plaisirs was responsible for the organisation of all Royal festivities and State occasions, as well commssioning, according to the King's wishes, any Royal gift or item for the Royal wardrobe and, following the reorganisation of 1763, each of the four premier gentilhommes took overall charge in succession for one year. Within the hôtel des menus-plaisirs in the rue du Faubourg-Poissonière were the ateliers of the craftsmen they employed, and part of the duc's responsiblities was the appointment of artists and craftsmen to the menus-plaisirs. It is, therefore, extremely pertinent that d'Aumont signed the warrants for both François-Joseph Belanger and Pierre Gouthière, appointed doreur ordinaire des Menus-Plaisirs in 1767, as well as that for the architect Pierre Adrien Paris, to whom the duc had turned for the refurbishment of his hôtel in the place Louis XV, now the hôtel Crillon, in 1775.
The duc's interest in ancient and precious marbles had apparently been fired by his purchase from the maréchal de Richelieu of two antique porphyry vases brought back from Italy. A passion shared by a number of his contemporaries- particularly Marie-Antoinette- the marbles from which the duc's objects were created had been mined in antiquity, and the fulfiment of this passion was only made possible by the rich pickings gleaned from archaeological excavations in Italy in the 18th century. As the Observation or introductory text in the sale catalogue reveals, M. le Duc d'Aumont, jaloux de donner le plus grand caractère à son Cabinet, a fait les plus grandes recherches pour se procurer à Rome et dans tout l'Italie les marbres les plus rares..'.
When the duc decided to set up a workshop in 1770 at the hôtel des menus-plaisirs to cut and polish precious marbles and embellish them with gilt-bronze mounts, he turned to those he had already worked with at the menus-plaisirs. Thus, while Belanger was appointed as architect-designer, a Genoese sculptor, Augustine Bocciardi (fl.1760-90) was responsible for cutting and polishing and the sculptor Guillemin is credited with inventing a new technique for giving marbles a 'polis ferme et brillant'. The gilt-bronze mounts, however, were all created by Gouthière, whose fame, like that of Boulle and Riesener, has never diminished and indeed the d'Aumont sale catalogue itself paid tribute to this reputation by annotating every lot that he had contributed to with the initial 'G'. In all, the duc commssioned 51 pieces from Gouthière, and whilst we have already seen that the latter was owed the enormous sum of 76,955 livres on his patron's death, interestingly Belanger's claim was by no means insubstantial, petitioning for 24,000 livres for 'un grand nombre de plans, dessins et esquisses par lui faits pour le feu duc.. tamt pour l'architecture de bâtiments que pour vases...et autre objets de curiosité de son cabinet'.
The legendary sale of the duc d'Aumont's collection took place on nine consecutive days in December 1782, running from the 12th to the 21st at the hôtel d'Aumont in the place Louis XV. Organised by the marchands-merciers Phillippe-François Julliot and Alexandre-Joseph Paillot, the public viewing lasted for nearly a month and, exceptionally for an 18th Century sale catalogue, line engravings were employed to illustrate all of the principal lots. Of the 383,322 livres realised, over half of this (251,420 livres) had been spent by the King and Queen, and they acquired 56 lots between them. However, whilst the Queen's purchase of five lots, including these vases, was for her own cabinet and were paid for from her Privy purse, the motivation for the King's extravagance was philanthropic. Since 1768, there had been a plan to establish a public museum in the galeries du Louvre, and these purchases were intended as an endowment for the newly-born musée du Louvre.
The pair of Louis XVI ormolu-mounted Egyptian alabaster vases also by Gouthière, included as lot 6 in the d'Aumont sale and acquired by Louis XVI, was sold by the Trustees of the Meiklour Estate Trust in these Rooms, 11 June 1992, lot 60 (£286,000).