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Lot Essay
Florence Gould (1895-1983), daughter of Maximilien La Caze, a wealthy French publisher, was born in San Francisco and trained to become an opera singer. In 1923 she married Frank Jay Gould, son of the American railroad magnate, Jay Gould. The couple moved to France where Florence established herself by hosting salons for the literary and artistic circles at their celebrated Palais de Cannes on the Côte d'Azur and their Parisian residence on Avenue de Malakoff. She later instituted various prizes for writers and artists, and many important French-American cultural events are supported through the Foundation established in her name.
This whimsical potpourri relates closely to a series of mounted porcelain wares by the marchand-éditeur and luxury boutique L'Escalier de Cristal, named after the extravagant crystal staircase it housed. Established by in 1802 by Mme. Désarnaud, the firm was pioneered mounting cristal taillé objects with gilt-bronze, which were supplied by Aimé-Gabriel d'Artigues (d. 1848), who in 1802 had bought the Vonche glass factory in the Ardennes, later to become the Baccarat crystalworks. The firm, who displayed all manner of objets de luxe including vases, lighting, furniture, clocks and bibelot from showrooms in the fashionable area of L'Opéra, was 'Fournisseur breveté du Roi’, supplying furniture and objets d’art to noble families throughout France and beyond. They counted among their Russian clientele Tsar Alexander III, Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch and the Demidoff families (W. Zeisler, L’objet d’art et de luxe Français en Russie (1881-1917), 2014, p. 341).
A design for a similar reclining porcelain figure with raised pierced coupe appears in the Georges and Henry Pannier’s carnet rouge which survive from the firm’s operation during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The design, available with both rocaille and Greek key plinths, was notably ordered by Georges Hoentschel, one of the greatest influences on the understanding, promotion and collecting of French furniture and decorative art in America in the early 20th century (A. Masseau & D. Masseau, L’Escalier de Cristal: le luxe à Paris 1809-1923, Paris, 2021, p. 295). The distinctive foliate and seed-form feet appear throughout the various Pannier carnets, notably on objects incorporating Chinese and Japanese porcelain and lacquers.
This whimsical potpourri relates closely to a series of mounted porcelain wares by the marchand-éditeur and luxury boutique L'Escalier de Cristal, named after the extravagant crystal staircase it housed. Established by in 1802 by Mme. Désarnaud, the firm was pioneered mounting cristal taillé objects with gilt-bronze, which were supplied by Aimé-Gabriel d'Artigues (d. 1848), who in 1802 had bought the Vonche glass factory in the Ardennes, later to become the Baccarat crystalworks. The firm, who displayed all manner of objets de luxe including vases, lighting, furniture, clocks and bibelot from showrooms in the fashionable area of L'Opéra, was 'Fournisseur breveté du Roi’, supplying furniture and objets d’art to noble families throughout France and beyond. They counted among their Russian clientele Tsar Alexander III, Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch and the Demidoff families (W. Zeisler, L’objet d’art et de luxe Français en Russie (1881-1917), 2014, p. 341).
A design for a similar reclining porcelain figure with raised pierced coupe appears in the Georges and Henry Pannier’s carnet rouge which survive from the firm’s operation during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The design, available with both rocaille and Greek key plinths, was notably ordered by Georges Hoentschel, one of the greatest influences on the understanding, promotion and collecting of French furniture and decorative art in America in the early 20th century (A. Masseau & D. Masseau, L’Escalier de Cristal: le luxe à Paris 1809-1923, Paris, 2021, p. 295). The distinctive foliate and seed-form feet appear throughout the various Pannier carnets, notably on objects incorporating Chinese and Japanese porcelain and lacquers.