Saint-Sulpice, l'écrin d'un collectionneur

A Louis XVI gilt-bronze mounted Japanese lacquered pot-pourri, circa 1780

Estimate

10,000 - 15,000 EUR

Lot Details

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Description

on four claw feet, with an associated beige marble base

Haut. 21 cm, diam. 15 cm;

Height. 8 1/2 in, diam. 5 7/8 in

Kopplin and al., Les laques du Japon, Collections de Marie Antoinette, exhibition catalog, 2002, Paris

This precious covered vase is a testament to the French passion for Japanese lacquers, particularly fashionable during the time of Marie-Antoinette. An object of fascination, this technique, nearing perfection, could not be replicated by the finest artisans of the French Court. The most valuable and expensive furniture pieces were adorned with lacquer panels from Japan, and these items were set with delicate gilt bronze mounts that highlighted their extraordinary decor. Renowned bronzers, such as François Rémond, created some of these mounts, including one for a sake bottle preserved at the Musée Camondo in Paris. These mounted objects were extremely rare under Louis XVI, as the discovery of lacquers by Europeans occurred several centuries after porcelain, which Europe abundantly mounted with gilt bronze. Our vase corresponds to a covered vase without handles (wan), of the type traditionally used by the upper echelons of Japanese society.

The most famous collection of Japanese lacquer objects is, of course, that of Marie-Antoinette, partly inherited from her mother, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. Faced with the anger of the Parisian women on October 5, 1789, she requested the next day to save her most precious belongings, including her collection of lacquers. Lignereux, tasked with inventorying the collection, counted sixty-eight pieces. Given the beauty of this collection, the Arts Commission decided on March 15, 1794, not to disperse it through revolutionary sales but to exhibit it in its entirety at the Central Museum of Arts, created in 1793 (the future Louvre Museum).

Madame de Pompadour also possessed an exceptional collection of mounted lacquers, as evidenced by her inventories. The descriptions are brief but have nonetheless allowed for the identification of certain lacquers that have survived to this day. Artists also succumbed to the beauty and perfection of Japanese lacquers, particularly François Boucher, whose posthumous sale in 1771 included no fewer than forty-two lots. Other notable collections included those of Monsieur de Gaignat, the king's secretary, the general farmer Randon de Boisset, the Duchess of Mazarin, and the Duke of Lorraine (probably the most significant of the 18th century). The sales catalogues for these collections were written by the leading experts and merchants of the time, including Gersaint, Lebrun, and Julliot père et fils.

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