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Lot Essay
Joséphine Baker first rented the Château des Milandes in the Dordogne from 1940 before purchasing it in 1947. The Château was her home with her fourth husband, the French composer Jo Bouillon whom she married in June 1947, and where she raised her twelve adopted children. This piano and the Louis XVI style giltwood bed (see following lot) were in Joséphine Baker’s bedroom as visible in a period photograph reproduced here. The piano and the bed were sold ‘from the Château des Milandes belonging to Joséphine Baker’ at auction by Maître Jean Vivier at Sarlat, Dordogne.
Inhabited since the mid-16th century, the Château des Milandes was substantially remodelled at the turn of the 20th century by Charles Claverie who added towers, romantic balconies and formal gardens to create the magnificent crenelated edifice visible today.
Born in the slums of St. Louis in 1906, Joséphine Baker rose to fame during that city's Roaring Twenties becoming the highest-paid chorus girl in vaudeville. She travelled to Paris in 1925 where her sensual La Danse de Sauvage sensationalized society; she made France her adopted homeland and morphed from 'petite danseuse sauvage' to 'la grande diva magnifique'. It is fitting of the otherworldly aura of Joséphine Baker that she chose the fairy-tale Château des Milandes to create the home of her dreams. She modernised the Château with electricity, running water, no less than six bathrooms and a huge kitchen. Having created a theme park in the grounds Joséphine welcomed 5000 visitors on opening day in 1949. This magnificently decorated Belle Époque piano was no doubt at the heart of their extravagant entertaining at the Château des Milandes.
An accomplished composer, Ignace Pleyel began manufacturing pianos in 1807, pioneering the introduction of the metal frame. Under the direction of his son Camille, the firm went on to win medals at many of the 19th century's International Exhibitions. The successful manufactory eventually supplied pianos to the European royal courts and exported them as far as South America and the Far East. According to Pierce's Piano Atlas, the firm operated under the name of Pleyel, Wolff & Cie. beginning in 1855, becoming Pleyel, Lyon & Cie. in 1887.
Inhabited since the mid-16th century, the Château des Milandes was substantially remodelled at the turn of the 20th century by Charles Claverie who added towers, romantic balconies and formal gardens to create the magnificent crenelated edifice visible today.
Born in the slums of St. Louis in 1906, Joséphine Baker rose to fame during that city's Roaring Twenties becoming the highest-paid chorus girl in vaudeville. She travelled to Paris in 1925 where her sensual La Danse de Sauvage sensationalized society; she made France her adopted homeland and morphed from 'petite danseuse sauvage' to 'la grande diva magnifique'. It is fitting of the otherworldly aura of Joséphine Baker that she chose the fairy-tale Château des Milandes to create the home of her dreams. She modernised the Château with electricity, running water, no less than six bathrooms and a huge kitchen. Having created a theme park in the grounds Joséphine welcomed 5000 visitors on opening day in 1949. This magnificently decorated Belle Époque piano was no doubt at the heart of their extravagant entertaining at the Château des Milandes.
An accomplished composer, Ignace Pleyel began manufacturing pianos in 1807, pioneering the introduction of the metal frame. Under the direction of his son Camille, the firm went on to win medals at many of the 19th century's International Exhibitions. The successful manufactory eventually supplied pianos to the European royal courts and exported them as far as South America and the Far East. According to Pierce's Piano Atlas, the firm operated under the name of Pleyel, Wolff & Cie. beginning in 1855, becoming Pleyel, Lyon & Cie. in 1887.