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Lot Essay
This superb pair of standing royal blackamoors formed part of the collection of the Pomereu d'Aligre family and is first recorded with certainty in a photograph of the interior of the family hotel particulier in Paris which was situated at 65-67 rue de Lille, at the corner of the rue de Poitiers. The hotel - today the Caisse des Dépots et Consignations - was on land which had belonged to the family since the mid 19th century. However, as it was directly behind the Cours des Comptes, the earlier Pomereu residence was burned by the Commune in 1871. In July of 1872, the land was purchased by Armand-Michel de Pomereu from the estate of his older brother, and he proceeded to build the luxurious house which stands today. Photographs taken shortly after the house's completion show that the gare (now musée) d'Orsay had not yet been built and the rue de Poitiers extended down to the Seine, which dates the photographs to the 1880s. Interior photographs of the hôtel show the two blackamoors standing on pedestals at the foot of the monumental staircase on either side (see photograph 70). Made of a variety of rich materials, this royal couple added to the opulence of the Pomereu interior, and are a witness to Europe's fascination with exotic foreign cultures in the 17th and 18th centuries. They remained at the hôtel until the family rented it to the service géographique de larmée in 1938, at which point the moors were moved to another Pomereu residence at 64 ave Foch. They were eventually sold from the family collections in the 1970s.
The depiction of negroes in European art has an illustrious provenance back to antiquity, although in Roman times they were normally depicted as slaves. An example of such a pair of standing blackamoors is today at Althorp House in the collection of Earl Spencer (Spencer, loc. cit.). Like the present figures, they are depicted full-length and are made of a combination of coloured marbles. These were a gift to the first Duke of Marlborough - a Spencer ancestor - from his brother General Charles Churchill, who had bought them in Rome after they were found in the silt of the Tiber river. However, perhaps the most famous negro figure of the 17th century was executed by Nicolas Cordier, who was asked to complete a figure around the remains of a Roman torso. Known today as the Borghese Moor, it was one of the jewels of the Borghese collection, but was sold to Napoleon by Prince Camillo Borghese and is now at Versailles (for a discussion and illustrations of the Moor, see Pressouyre, op. cit., II, no. 21, figs. 190-193. pp. 413-415).
Nicolas Cordier (c1567-1612), was born and had his early training in France before being sent to Rome at the expense of Charles III of Lorraine in 1592. He became one of the most influential sculptors in Rome in the very early 17th century, working both on original compositions and in the repair of antique fragments such as the Borghese Moor, which was carried out circa 1607-1612. Although the blackamoors offered as part of the Champalimaud collection must date from later in the 17th, or even early 18th century, there are a number of interesting similarities which suggest that the sculptor was familiar with Cordier's work. Most obviously, they share the subject matter - negro figures richly adorned. Both the Champalimaud and Borghese moors use a variety of luxurious materials including coloured marbles and alabaster heightened with areas of gilding. Unusually, the Champalimaud figures also use lead which has been patinated to resemble bronze. In this respect, they follow in the tradition of northern European sculptors, and it may be that the author of the present figures was a northern, possibly French, sculptor who had his training in Italy.
It is not, however, only the Borghese Moor to which one can draw parallels. At about the same time that Cordier was carrying out work on the Moor, he also executed a carved marble figure of King David for the funerary chapel commissioned by Pope Paul V at Sta Maria Maggiore, Rome (Pressouyre, op. cit., II, no. 13, figs. 117-120, p. 395). Much of the decorative vocabulary found on the David is echoed in the male figure of the pair offered here, and they share a similar, confident contrapposto pose. Both wear the crown with simple points, have the same roman armour and sandals embellished with masks at the tops. They both also stand with a sceptre or baton in the right hand and with drapery held around the shoulders with a clasp to one side. The overall impression of the Champalimaud moors is, however, more baroque in conception, with the exagerrated billowing of the drapery, the emphasis on coloured materials and the almost haughty gaze of the sitter.
Certainly, Cordier's work continued to be influential throughout the 17th century, as is witnessed by a standing figure of the emperor Tiberius which was formerly in the collection of Queen Cristina of Sweden and is now in the Prado, Madrid (Aléizaga, loc. cit.). Like the Borghese Moor and the statues offered here, it is a standing classical figure made of a number of rich materials - in this case a lavish combination of alabaster and gilded bronze. It is this juxtaposition of stones and metals - along with the insouciant poses - which makes the Champalimaud moors a luxurious amalgam of the regal and the exotic.
The depiction of negroes in European art has an illustrious provenance back to antiquity, although in Roman times they were normally depicted as slaves. An example of such a pair of standing blackamoors is today at Althorp House in the collection of Earl Spencer (Spencer, loc. cit.). Like the present figures, they are depicted full-length and are made of a combination of coloured marbles. These were a gift to the first Duke of Marlborough - a Spencer ancestor - from his brother General Charles Churchill, who had bought them in Rome after they were found in the silt of the Tiber river. However, perhaps the most famous negro figure of the 17th century was executed by Nicolas Cordier, who was asked to complete a figure around the remains of a Roman torso. Known today as the Borghese Moor, it was one of the jewels of the Borghese collection, but was sold to Napoleon by Prince Camillo Borghese and is now at Versailles (for a discussion and illustrations of the Moor, see Pressouyre, op. cit., II, no. 21, figs. 190-193. pp. 413-415).
Nicolas Cordier (c1567-1612), was born and had his early training in France before being sent to Rome at the expense of Charles III of Lorraine in 1592. He became one of the most influential sculptors in Rome in the very early 17th century, working both on original compositions and in the repair of antique fragments such as the Borghese Moor, which was carried out circa 1607-1612. Although the blackamoors offered as part of the Champalimaud collection must date from later in the 17th, or even early 18th century, there are a number of interesting similarities which suggest that the sculptor was familiar with Cordier's work. Most obviously, they share the subject matter - negro figures richly adorned. Both the Champalimaud and Borghese moors use a variety of luxurious materials including coloured marbles and alabaster heightened with areas of gilding. Unusually, the Champalimaud figures also use lead which has been patinated to resemble bronze. In this respect, they follow in the tradition of northern European sculptors, and it may be that the author of the present figures was a northern, possibly French, sculptor who had his training in Italy.
It is not, however, only the Borghese Moor to which one can draw parallels. At about the same time that Cordier was carrying out work on the Moor, he also executed a carved marble figure of King David for the funerary chapel commissioned by Pope Paul V at Sta Maria Maggiore, Rome (Pressouyre, op. cit., II, no. 13, figs. 117-120, p. 395). Much of the decorative vocabulary found on the David is echoed in the male figure of the pair offered here, and they share a similar, confident contrapposto pose. Both wear the crown with simple points, have the same roman armour and sandals embellished with masks at the tops. They both also stand with a sceptre or baton in the right hand and with drapery held around the shoulders with a clasp to one side. The overall impression of the Champalimaud moors is, however, more baroque in conception, with the exagerrated billowing of the drapery, the emphasis on coloured materials and the almost haughty gaze of the sitter.
Certainly, Cordier's work continued to be influential throughout the 17th century, as is witnessed by a standing figure of the emperor Tiberius which was formerly in the collection of Queen Cristina of Sweden and is now in the Prado, Madrid (Aléizaga, loc. cit.). Like the Borghese Moor and the statues offered here, it is a standing classical figure made of a number of rich materials - in this case a lavish combination of alabaster and gilded bronze. It is this juxtaposition of stones and metals - along with the insouciant poses - which makes the Champalimaud moors a luxurious amalgam of the regal and the exotic.