museums and institutions:
Attributed works:
59. Portière aux armes de France. Gobelins, 1730-43. Wool and silk, 355 by 262.5 cm. It was woven at the Gobelins Manufactory after the design of Pierre-Josse Perrot (active at the manufactory 1724-35). Twenty-eight of these portières were woven between 1730 and 1743 for use in the royal residences. This tapestry bears the woven initials G and L, preceded by a fleur-de-lys, for the director of the atelier Etienne-Claude Le Blond (active at the Gobelins Manufactory 1727-51). It was formerly in the collection of the fourth Marquess of Hertford, Paris.
Attributed works:
60. Tapestry Le mois de décembre/Le château de Monceaux. French (Gobelins), before 1712. Wool and silk, 316 by 328 cm. This tapestry is from the series of the twelve months of the year, known as Les maisons royales, woven for Louis XIV. The design for the series, with each month representing one of the royal châteaux and displaying objects from the royal collections, was conceived by Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) as a companion series to the famous Histoire du roi. Seven complete sets, woven with gold thread, were produced for the Crown between 1668 and 1711. This example portraying the château of Monceaux (demolished by 1799) with the king on horseback in the middle ground, was woven separately and without gold thread as a private commission. It bears the woven signature for Jean de la Croix (active at the Gobelins Manufactory 1662-1712). Two other tapestries with the same borders, one of which bears the woven initials for de la Croix, exist and may have been part of the original private commission. They are Le mois de Juillet/Le château de Vincennes in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and Le mois de Septembre/Le château de Chambord in the National Museum for Western Art, Tokyo.
Attributed works:
61. Carpet. French (Savonnerie), before 3rd May 1680. Wool, 315 by 908.6 cm. This carpet, one of ninety-two, was part of a grand scheme to decorate the Long Gallery of the Louvre. Under the command of Louis XIV, the Savonnerie Manufactory produced the carpets, almost certainly after designs by Charles Le Brun and Louis Le Vau. The project lasted from 1670 to 1679, occupying the carpet looms of both the Dupont and the Lourdet families at the Savonnerie workshops. All of the carpets for the Long Gallery were united by their similar compositions: a wide, bold border; the black background; a panel at either end, of either polychrome landscapes or monochrome 'bas reliefs,' centring a reserve of trophies, instruments and attributes of the Sun King; and large scrolling acanthus leaves. This carpet is recorded in an inventory of Louis XIV, with the notation that it was delivered to the Garde-Meuble on 3rd May 1680. In 1775, it was lent by Louis XVI to the marquis d'Ossun, the Spanish Ambassador. Probably during the nineteenth century, the carpet was given to the Spanish cathedral of Santiago del Compostella. Forty-eight complete carpets of the original commission survive, together with numerous fragments.
Attributed works:
62. Carved relief. French (Paris), 1789. Lindenwood, 69.4 by 47.9 by 6.2 cm. This panel is carved from one piece of wood and is an example of the virtuoso craftmanship of its maker, Aubert-Henri-Joseph Parent (1753-1835). During the late 1770s and throughout the 1780s, Parent was well-known among the court circles at Versailles. His work was prized by Louis XVI, and often incorporated symbols of monarchical good government within his naturalistic reliefs depicting vases of flowers, birds, and insects. He travelled to Italy from 1784 to 1788 where he studied antique architecture and sketched ancient artefacts. This relief is one of two conserved at the J. Paul Getty Museum and is incised under the base AUBERT PARENT FECIT AN. 1789.
Attributed works:
64. Secrétaire. German (Berlin), c. 1790. Pine and oak veneered with mahogany, satinwood, bloodwood, and kingwood; white marble; gilt bronze mounts, 242.8 by 111.8 by 60.9 cm. Clock face signed 'Mollinger, à Berlin'. The secrétaire has a fall-front which lets down to reveal small drawers and pigeon holes. A writing slide pulls out from above, releasing drawers immediately above. This piece is attributed to the German cabinetmaker David Hacker (active c.1770-1810). Hacker was a journeyman to David Roentgen (1743-1807) at Neuwied from 1779. At the dissolution of Roentgen's workshops in 1791 he set up in Berlin. The medallion bearing the profile of Plato on the fall front can be found on several Roentgen pieces. The attribution to Hacker is based primarily on a description of a mechanical desk exhibited at the Berlin Academy in 1794.
Attributed works:
65. Secrétaire. Perhaps Swedish (Stockholm), c.1780. Oak and poplar veneered with satinwood, tulipwood, fruit woods and ebony, with incised mastics, 152.0 by 90 by 54.5 cm. The secrétaire bears a number of red wax seals on its back, all bearing the date 1830, and the word 'CHARTE'. They are official seals, referring to the Charter of 1830, which was followed by the constitutional monarchy of Louis-Philippe (1830-1848). The secrétaire is tentatively attributed to the royal Swedish cabinet maker Georg Haupt (1741-84) or to a member of his immediate circle. Haupt trained in Germany prior to 1763, in Amsterdam by 1763, in Paris (probably with Simon Oeben) and in London, 1768-69, where he worked for Sir William Chambers. Haupt returned to Stockholm as royal cabinetmaker in 1769 and was made master in 1770. This piece may be compared with slightly simpler pieces made for the king and court, surviving at the Royal Palace, Stockholm, and at Drottningholm and Tullgarn.
Attributed works:
66. Longcase clock. German (Neuwied), c.1784-1786. Oak veneered with mahogany, gilt bronze mounts, bronze, and enamelled metal, 187 by 64 by 53 cm. The metopes above the clock are mounted with heads of Diana, while the pediment is set with a gilt-bronze relief of the lyre of Apollo, supported by two winged putti. A figure of Chronos, in partial relief, carries the weight of time, the face of the clock, upon his stooped back. The movement of the clock is inscribed Roentgen & Kinzing à Neuwied, for David Roentgen (1743-1807) and Peter Kinzing (1745-1816), who was appointed clock maker to Marie Antoinette in 1785. In addition, the clock is equipped with an elaborate mechanical musical movement consisting of a bellow organ, twenty valves and forty pipes. Five other examples of this clock exist in German and Russian collections and it is known that a clock of this model was delivered to Catherine II of Russia in 1784.
Attributed works:
67. Reading and writing stand. German (Neuwied), c.1760. Pine and walnut veneered with rosewood, walnut, ivory, ebony and mother-of-pearl, 76.8 by 71.7 by 48.8 cm. The top of this reading and writing stand is inlaid in ivory and mother-of-pearl with the coat-of-arms and the cypher of Johan Philipp, Kurfürst von Walderdorff (1701-68), Prince archbishop and elector of Trier. Like many other products of the Roentgen workshop, the stand is of a complicated, yet functional design. It is elaborately fitted with a concealed, notched extension that allows the stand to be raised higher and the reading shelf itself is adjustable to a variety of angles. The stand also contains many hidden small drawers. Count von Walderdorff was the most important patron of Abraham Roentgen (1711-1793) during the 1750s and 1760s, commissioning at least twenty pieces of furniture from the Roentgen workshop, among them this reading and writing stand.
Attributed works:
68. A pair of lidded bowls. Japanese (Arita) late seventeenth-century underglaze blue porcelain; English, late seventeenth century mounts; 35 by 38 by 25.5 cm. The gilt-metal mounts on the lidded bowls are attributed to Wolfgang Howzer (master 1664), a Zürich goldsmith working in London. On the handles crouch greyhounds, their tails wrapped around their bodies. Silver-gilt dogs of the same form appear on the handles of a mounted Chinese vase in the Victoria and Albert Museum. They bear the mark WH about a cherub, which is usually given to Howzer. It is not certain that Howzer worked with base metals, and it has been suggested that the mounts on the Getty Museum's lidded bowls were copied by some other metalworker. It is known that Howzer was joined by his nephew Hans Heinrich in 1681 and that he is last mentioned in 1688. Although the taste for mounted oriental porcelain later throve in Paris, it was not taken up in fashionable circles of post-Restoration London. It is possible that these rare objects were made for an aristocrat in the court of Charles II who, having been in exile with him perhaps, picked up the taste for such luxuries on the continent.
Attributed works:
69. Wine pot. German (Meissen), c.1725. Hard-paste porcelain, painted with polychrome enamels and gilded; 14 by 17 by 8.9 cm. The wine pot, in the form of a peach, is modelled after a Chinese prototype which was probably in the collection of Augustus the Strong. In the early decades of the Meissen manufactory, it was common practice to model forms based on Chinese originals. This is a 'trick' pot, as the wine is poured in from below, yet does not emerge when righted. The interior is fitted with a long funnel. Greek kylixes fitted with similar 'trick' devices have been recorded as early as 450 B. C. The painted chinoiserie decoration is attributed to the studio of J. G. Horoldt (1696-1775). Indeed, it is possible that these scenes are by the hand of the master himself. Only four other wine pots of this model are known to exist: two are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, one painted in gold and the other painted with chinoiserie scenes similar to the Museum's (sold from the Von Pannwitz collection in 1905); one in the George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Ontario, painted with chinoiserie scenes; and one in the Porzellansammlung, Dresden, with gilding at the foot, handle and spout, with the body left white.
Attributed works:
70. Box. French (Paris), c.1675-80. Oak veneered with ebony and marquetry of various woods, with pewter stringing, 31.9 by 66.1. by 43.2 cm. Objects veneered with wood marquetry of this quality are rare; such workmanship is usually found in association with marquetry of tortoiseshell, brass, and pewter. It is apparent that these elaborate designs, as on the box and on pieces of the later type, incorporating flowers, scrolls, and birds, are all from the same workshop. Many of the motifs of these designs are repeated from object to object. Such panels appear on furniture for which drawings exist that are attributed to André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) and are frequently given to his hand. It is also possible that objects of such high quality were made at the royal workshops at the Gobelins. This box appears to be of unique form but may have been based on Japanese lacquer boxes imported into Europe at the end of the seventeenth century. Its function is unclear, but it was probably used to store papers and documents. Filled holes on the front of the lid mark the original position of handles.
Attributed works:
71. Ewer and basin. German (Meissen), c.1740, painted with the crossed swords of the Meissen Manufactory and impressed with the number '27'. Hard-paste porcelain, painted with coloured enamels and gilded; ewer 21.1 by 20.6 by 10.5 cm, basin 7.3 by 31.8 by 25.5 cm. The body of the ewer is painted with polychrome panels of people in landscapes. The inner lip and the foot are painted with similar miniature scenes in carmine. The stem is decorated with multicolored flowers in the kakiemon style. The rim of the basin is decorated with four polychrome harbour scenes and four miniature, peopled landscapes in carmine. The painted scenes are attributed to C. F. Herold (1700-79), one of the major painters at the Meissen Manufactory, who may have been the cousin of the more notorious painter J. G. Horoldt (1696-1775). The rare helmet-shaped ewer is based on a metal form, which reflects the change at Meissen in this decade from oriental shapes to those more European.
Attributed works:
72. Pot pourri vase. French (Sceaux), c. 1755. Faience with petit feu enamel painting, 33 by 24.1 by 15.2 cm. The artist responsible for this piece is not known. It is attributed to the hand of Jacques Chapelle (b. 1721, active at Sceaux 1750-63), who entered the factory around 1748 as manager and chemist and became sole proprietor in 1759. The pot pourri has petit feu enamel painting, a technique which allows for a wider and brighter colour palette, apparent on this piece in bright blue, green, deep purple and pourpre de Cassius (named after the seventeenth-century Dutch chemist who discovered this pinkish-purple). A pair of coupes of very similar form and decoration exists in the Musée de la Renaissance, Château d'Ecouen. Another comparable piece is the vasque in the Musée de l'Ile de France, Sceaux, embellished with a fantastic bird, similar in its strange character to the creature on the Getty Museum's pot pourri vase.
Western art unattributed:
63. Console table. German (Berlin?), c. 1735-45. Gilded limewood with brèche d'Alep top, 91.4 by 108.6 by 53.3 cm. The single leg of this console table is a tree which turns into a dragon's head at the base. Flames and thunder bolts issue from the dragon's mouth and to the left of the base, there is a quiver of arrows among hunting elements. A climbing grapevine bearing fruit entwines the tree trunk. The tree branches at the top into pierced foliate scrolls on which perches an exotic bird with extended wings, eating grapes. To the left is a nest of young birds attended by their mother. Although of unique design, this table may be compared to the console tables of Johann August Nahl (1719-85) made for the Golden Gallery at Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin.
